Ever
by ShearViscosity
Summary: Modern Day. There's a new girl at Hallow Hill and both Marak and Nir want her as their wife. So they make a deal: an elf for Marak, and the girl for Nir. But sometimes even the best laid plans can go astray. Complete.
1. Some Day My Prince Will Come

**Ever**

**Some Day My Prince Will Come**

_Ever since she was a little girl, she loved playing princess. She loved dressing in her mother's old shoes that were too big, wearing her old costume jewelry, and putting on her old dresses. After all, this was the pre-Disney princess days, before little girls could live out their fantasies dressed as Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty courtesy of Wal-Mart and Disney merchandise. She would act out her favorite stories of princes rescuing damsels in distress and living happily ever after. Actually she enjoyed the happily ever after part more than the rescuing. The idea that she would have no more worries, no more bad things, and no more fights, once she found her prince was getting more attractive. Especially as it was becoming more apparent that her own parents had not found their own happily ever after. Her older sister would roll her eyes while she made castles, towers and fortresses for her at out blocks, cards, and legos. But what her sister didn't understand, was that no matter how tall the tower, or how big the fortress, it was the ever after that truly mattered._

13 years later…

Candace Bryden knew what she wanted. And what she wanted was to go to Europe with her boyfriend, Nick to celebrate their high school graduation. It was only fair since her sisters got to go on a cruise for theirs. Her father insisted she bring along another friend, hoping maybe she wouldn't spend all of her time with her boyfriend. So, in order to get what she wanted, she brought along Alice, Nick's cousin. The day after graduation all three were hopping on a plane to a little inn in England that Candace had found on the internet. It was close to a cute little town, perfect for a little getaway with Nick before taking on the rest of Europe.

As Candace brushed her auburn hair behind her ear, she surveyed the scene before her. The sunhad just finished setting and they had just arrived at the inn after what seemed like forever. The staff at the inn were taking their luggage out the car the three had rented.

"Be careful with that! Do you have any idea of how much those shoes cost? You can't just toss them around like a box of rocks," she yelled at one maid who had started to carry the luggage in. Alice went to help the maid.

"Calm down," said Nick wrapping his arms around Candace. "It'll be fine."

"I know," she sighed, "I just want this trip to be perfect."

"And it will be. Now let's go inside and get something nice and warm to drink." Nodding, Candace followed him inside, only pausing for a second to look behind her. Turning to go in, she couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was watching her.

Candace was right, somebody was watching her. A figure across the road that was hiding just behind some trees to be precise. Behind him, two eyes appeared out of the dark, followed by the silhouette of another figure.

"How long have you been there?" The first figure demanded of the second.

"A while," the second answered.

"Must you do that every time we meet? Do you have any idea how annoying it is?"

"But that's precisely why I have to do it. What are you looking at… I see, somebody has been holding out on me."

"Absurd. Is it my fault that your informants are slower than mine?"

"It is when the reason for their delay was due to you sinking them into the earth."

"Bah. You can't prove that was me."

"Really? How many elves do you know that would be gutsy enough to sink five of the goblin king's men into the earth?"

Silence took over for a moment as both men continued to stare at the sight before them. Then one spoke.

"She's mine you know."

"Yours?"

"Yes mine."

"I'm afraid you must be mistaken. It's my turn. Apparently you have forgotten that I let you have the one a year ago. What happened to her anyway?"

"She failed one of the tests."

"Which one?"

"As it turns out she was already expecting an um, heir. Had to modify her memory and let her go."

His companioned snickered.

"And apparently your memory is faulty. As I recall, I let you have the last one, what five months ago, so what are you doing here?"

The snickering stopped. "It didn't work out."

"Really? Well according to my captain's guard, who heard it from one of his officers on duty, who heard it from one of your officers on duty, the moment she entered the camp to be prepared for the ceremony, she started flirting with her attendants, who were female I might add."

"Yes well, it's not as easy to find a bride this day and age. Why can't it be like in our grandfather's day where you simply abducted them, didn't have to worry about them being pregnant, or, well, you know, and the humans actually finding them."

"Indeed. It's getting harder to hide from them, what with their new technical thingys. Thank goodness for all the spells in place. Otherwise they might have discovered us years ago."

"So rock, paper, scissors, then?"

"And let you cheat? How about flipping a coin?"

"And let you use that double headed one again? Besides what happened to the deal our ancestors made? The elf king gets first choice since he can only marry humans."

"Except for the fact that our ancestors also agreed to stop capturing elf brides to give the elf population a chance to recover. We haven't had an elf King's Wife since, well Marak Catspaw's wife. So I'm stuck with humans just like you."

"Why don't you go marry a dwarf? Or have you tried and they turned you down?"

"Dwarves are boring with their endless talk of rocks. Besides I want a human, and particularly that human."

"What would it take for you to let me have her?"

"Hmmm… look at the way she's commanding those people about. She certainly knows what she wants and isn't afraid of getting it. By the sword, what a King's Wife she'll make. "

"And look at how slender and tall she is, she moves with the grace of an elf. And that beautiful red hair. I'm serious, what would it take?"

"What is it with you elf kings and red hair? Ever since Aganir Ash's wife, that's all you elf kings have been obsessed with. Besides, green and red go together so well, don't you think? Why we could be Christmas all year round! Besides, if you really are serious, you know what it would take."

His companion was silent for a moment before answering, "First off, if I do agree, she must be of age."

"Of course. Along with being from one of the high families. I'm a king you know, I can't just be marrying any little elf."

"You should be grateful I'm letting you even marry one. That's the other thing, she has to be willing. I'm not ordering any elf to marry you who doesn't want to."

"And what if nobody volunteers?"

More silence followed. "Then you can have her."

"You have yourself a deal."

****Author's Note****

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom (if I did there would be more books) nor the rights to the Disney song in the title. I've been a reader of fanfiction for years, but never actually wrote anything because I could never figure out how to end my stories. It wasn't until one of my friends was complaining about lack of elf king stories, and I was procrastinating writing a paper and studying for finals that I decided to give it a try. I finished the story in a week. I plan on updating on Tuesday and Friday nights because I'm too impatient to update once a week. Also, each chapter title will be the title of a Disney song from a Disney movie (animated or live action). Next chapter is When Will My Life Begin. I would also like to thank another one of my friends who helped me with this account after some issues. So read, enjoy, and if possible review. Thanks!


	2. When Will My Life Begin

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or the song

**When Will My Life Begin**

Inanna was was in the library when her sister, Eresha, came to see her.

"Ana," she said, using the nickname she had given her since they were children, "Everybody in the camp is gathering, Nir has something important to announce."

"Maybe he's finally found a wife."

"Hopefully this one is actually suitable for him." Both laughed, considering they had both been objects of the last candidate's affection, with their long black hair and dark eyes. They soon joined the other elves at the center of the camp, where their king was waiting.

"I have a found a bride, and I assure you, this time there are no… issues." Laughter among the elves broke out as they remembered what happened last time he had supposedly found a bride. Continuing, he said, "There is one catch. The goblin king, Marak Chameleontail, asks for an elf bride in order to give up his claim on the girl." A collective hush quieted the elves. An elf bride? There hadn't been an elf bride for the goblin king in decades. Surely their king wouldn't force one of their own to marry a goblin.

Sensing their fear and reservations, Nir continued. "I agreed to this but set my own demands as well. Although the girl must be from one of the high families, she must also choose her fate willingly. I will not force one of my people to commit such an act if they do not wish it. If no elf steps forward, the goblin king will claim the bride I seek. I do not expect an answer immediately; take the day to sleep on it. If any elf decides to step forward, come to my tent."

With that, Nir took his leave, returning to his tent, while the elves talked among themselves about his announcement.

"How ghastly," said Eresha, "What elf in their right mind would choose such a fate?"

What elf indeed, Inanna wondered to herself as they walked back to their tent.

Despite being a little over eighteen, Inanna still slept with her sister, Eresha. The two were only a year apart and Eresha was fiercely protective of her sister. In fact, Inanna, couldn't remember a time when they were apart for more than a couple hours. Having two children so close together, had made their mother very ill, and no amount of magic could heal her. Inanna could remember only a little of her mother, who finally died when she was five. As for their father, his way of dealing with his grief was to always be out hunting for the camp. After not returning for several months, they finally found his body in a lake last winter. The result of their father leaving them alone for weeks at a time was that Eresha had cared for her younger sister. She fed her food at meal times, rubbed her feet at night, slept next to her in their tent at night, and joined her often in the library. When other female elves Inanna's age were being courted, Eresha had insisted that Inanna wasn't ready yet. She was too young, too silly, too frail, too something. Inanna hadn't minded as much then, but now that she was over eighteen and could marry, she wanted to start a family. Even Eresha, had had Dumid, one of the king's guards, showing interest in the past, but Eresha had insisted that her sister came first.

_I'll always be first_, Inanna thought to herself. _Eresha will never have a chance to live her own life if I'm around. I'll never have a chance to live my own life. _ Inanna had been thinking these thoughts for a while now, wondering how to get her sister to let her go. When their father first started being gone for weeks at a time, the other elves had taken note of the two young girls living in a tent by themselves. They tried to intervene saying Eresha was a child herself and was much too young to take care of both of them. Eresha then used her magic to make their lives miserable—causing them to trip, drop things, hurt themselves—little things that could be explained away, and nobody could necessarily prove that it was her magic, although everybody suspected it. When word reached Aganir Agmun, Nir's father at the time, what was going on, he had summoned Eresha to him, demanding an explanation. Inanna wasn't sure what they had happened between the two, but Eresha and Inanna were left alone and the incidents had stopped.

Now, as Eresha was rubbing her feet, Inanna made her decision. _It's now or never. If I don't have the courage now, I never will. Besides, this is best for Eresha. And it can't be that bad in the caves with the goblins, surely the king wouldn't send an elf if it was truly horrible._

"Where are you going?" Eresha asked as Inanna stood up and starting to leave the tent.

"To run a small errand," she answered.

"Now? Just as the sun is about to rise? Why don't I come with you?"

"That's alright. It'll be quick."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

****Author's Note****

I would first like to say thanks to Roxy87, JayLah, and tess for the reviews. I didn't think I would have so many so soon, so it's nice to know people are reading and enjoying the story so far. For any fans of Leverage or the Justice League I uploaded a short one-shot that I had written for a friend of mine a couple days ago. Also the title for the next chapter which will be updated next Tuesday is: I Will Go Sailing No More. So once again, read, enjoy, and review!


	3. I Will Go Sailing No More

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song

**I Will Go Sailing No More**

Aganir Ash, the elf king named Alone, saved the elf population from dying out. He brought many small bands together into one large one. He taught them how to use their magic, speak their language, and the history that they had long since forgotten. But as much as he brought the elves back to their old ways, some things had changed since the days of the old elf kings.

The first was no longer giving the elf King's Wife the amnesia drink to take away her memories. He believed that this had caused the near destruction of the elves in the first place and vowed for it not to happen again. The elf kings that came after him believed this as well, and as a result had much better relationships with their wives than their ancestors did.

Another difference was that Aganir Ash and Marak Catspaw began the tradition of introducing their sons to each other at an early age in order to prevent another elf harrowing among other things. Although they knew they could never truly understand each other, the acquaintance of the two future kings would make it easier to solve differences between the two races along with bringing them together to fight a common foe. This change proved useful when the humans had their world wars and the goblin and elf king at the time had to combine forces to ensure their people wouldn't suffer due to the humans. At another point both kings had banded together and had Hollow Hill, the goblin lands, and elf lands, combined together and named, "Hollow Hill Wildlife Reserve". This was done to protect their lands from encroaching humans. It was turned in a protected area that attracted campers, nature lovers, and prospective brides. Descendants of Matilda and Jack Richardson still took care of Hollow Hill Lodge and Hollow Hill Manor. The Lodge had been turned into a small bed and breakfast while the Manor had become an inn along with their family home. This way the elf and goblin kings knew that future generations would be protected from outside humans.

Even when it was discovered that Aganir Ash was the true elf king, Sika, his wife, and the elves continued to address him as Nir. They had grown so used to calling him Nir, that calling him by his true title, Aganir, never occurred to them. In addition, it had been centuries since the elves had lived with an elf king and knew to address him by his proper title. As time past after the elf harrowing, the elves lost many aspects of their earlier culture including knowing to address their king by his proper title. Therefore the tradition of addressing the elf king 'Nir' began and was soon passed down through the generations. The only time the proper title was used anymore was for record keeping, or if a young Aganir was in trouble with his parents.

There had also been some changes instituted after Aganir Ash's reign. One such was that elves now learned English and Goblin as young children. Nir's mother, Edith, known to the elves as Edi, was responsible for the change. Another change was that the elf kings now used a tent as an office. Nir's grandfather had married a very chatty bride who would never give him a minute of peace. To solve this problem, he moved the desk—the same one that Marak Catspaw had given Aganir Ash that had never been returned—into a big tent he had made into an office. If the flaps were down, then his wife would know not to bother him. The tent also had ceiling flaps to let the night sky in. In addition, it was right next to the elf library that contained the books that Aganir Ash had copied from the goblins, along with chronicles that each elf king had written since Ash's reign. In the winter, the traditional library was in the cave at the winter camp, while during the summer, the library was located in a tent for the elves. Nir found the office just as nice of a getaway as his father and grandfather did.

It was here now, that Nir was looking over the reports from his guards about his bride-to-be. After seeing her hang on to the ugly human, Nir didn't have to worry about a repeat of last time. However, just to make sure nothing would go wrong, he had sent his guards to perform some tests while she was asleep. She had passed them all. Now he had to only worry about whether or not an elf would actually step forward. _I'm a fool. A complete and total fool. No elf in her right mind would ever volunteer. Marak knew this and is getting the better end of the deal. No matter what happens he'll get a bride. Not to mention Aganir Ash is probably turning over in his grave at the thought of giving another elf bride to the goblins._

So enrapt with his thoughts he didn't hear his secretary say that he had somebody to see him. It wasn't until he give a loud cough did Nir look up. "There is an elf here to see you my lord. Apparently she wishes to volunteer to marry the goblin king."

"Well don't just stand there, send her in." While tidying his desk, Nir wondered who it could be. When he looked up he saw it was Inanna entering the tent.

"I wish to volunteer to marry the goblin king," she said in a timid voice.

"Is this your choice?" he asked.

"It is." _Poor girl_, he thought to himself. _With that overbearing sister of hers, no wonder she wants to run to the goblins_. That overbearing sister had caused him and his father grief over the years, making them to wonder whether or not it was a good decision to let the two sisters live together, since their father was always hunting. _On the one hand, I now have a bride to fulfill my end of the deal. On the other, it's because of me that I have a bride for the goblin king._ The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Do you think," she asked, "That he'll let me out for the full moon? I've read that for the last two elf brides their husbands let them out. And since I'm volunteering, it's not as if he'll have to worry about me being captured…" Her voice trailed off.

"I guarantee you'll let you out." Inanna's face lit up as he thought. _If he doesn't guarantee then there'll be no deal, _Nir thought to himself. "Have you told your sister about your decision?"

"Not yet." Inanna had barely gotten the words out of her mouth before her sister came storming in the tent, with Nir's secretary behind her, failing at restraining her.

"I'm sorry, sir, but she insisted…"

"And why shouldn't I insist? What is this nonsense about sending my little sister off to live with those, those _things_ simply so you get some silly little human?" Eresha demanded of the king.

"First off," Nir began, "I'm not sending her off. Inanna volunteered. Second, that silly little human is to be my future wife, future mother of my heir, and _your_ future king. Thirdly, may I remind you that you're talking to your king, and of the deal you made with my father and I?"

Eresha stiffened, while Inanna looked from the king to her sister. _What deal_, she wondered. The king's secretary seemed just as put out.

"Why would you volunteer to marry a monster?" Eresha asked of her sister.

Inanna knew she couldn't tell her sister the truth. Eresha would simply say she was happy with her life and Inanna would never be able to get away to live her own. So she lied. "The goblins have so many books to read, and new things to learn, and Nir said the goblin king will even let me out at night…" and like before, her voice once again trailed off.

Eresha looked at her sister hesitantly, not quite sure she should believe her, and even Inanna couldn't quite believe what she had just said. Nir stepped in by saying, "I assure you Eresha, your sister shall be quite happy with the goblins. I'll make sure of it," _even if I have to squeeze Marak until his eyeballs pop out_. This caused him to giggle at the thought.

Eresha turned her head to look at the king but said nothing. "Ana, if this is what you want..."  
"Oh it is," Inanna answered. _I want you to be happy with Dumid. I want to live my own life. Even if it is with some hideous goblins_. "Besides you don't have to worry about me. From what I understand, the king's wife has a spell similar to ours to keep them safe."

Eresha was about to say something, but Nir cut her off. "It's settled then. I'll send word to the goblin king immediately so he can get ready for the ceremony."

****Author's Note****

It was pointed out to me by a couple reviewers that 'Nir' is only for the elf lords and 'Aganir' is the proper way to address an elf king. When writing this I didn't have my books with me at the time and had to go off of my memory. So I just spent an entire day rereading the series, along with more information on Dunkle's website. In the process I found something interesting. In the last chapter of ITCOTS, he is still called 'Nir' by Miranda and Dunkle _after_ it's discovered that he is the true elf king. Now it could be that Dunkle herself didn't realize this or she wrote it on purpose. I decided to assume it was on purpose. My reasoning was, that the elves had always called him and known him as 'Nir', so why change it? Elves like things to be easy, and remembering his new title would be hard. As a result, the children heard him always addressed as 'Nir', and did so to his son and so on. They knew that he was their king and his official title was 'Aganir', but continued to call him 'Nir'.

I can relate to this myself. A couple years ago it was pointed out to me by my friends that I say 'warsh' and not wash. Afterwards I noticed that my parents, uncles, godparents say it as well. Hearing it around me growing up, I learned it and used it as well. They probably use it because they heard it as children growing up too. Now, I know the proper word is 'wash' and that's how I write the word, but I still say 'warsh' because it's what I grew up with. I figure the same thing happened to the elves. The children grew used to using 'Nir' and passed it on to later generations. They knew and wrote down his proper title, 'Aganir' but called him 'Nir' anyway.

Hopefully this makes sense and thanks to those of you who pointed it out. The next chapter is Jolly Holiday and Candace will finally reappear. Edith and the story behind her change will also appear later. Also, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it, and as always, please review!


	4. Jolly Holiday

Disclaimer: I own no rights to the Hollow Kingdom or to the song

**Jolly Holiday**

When Candace awoke, she went straight to her mirror. For some reason, she had dreamed that somebody had written on her. Staring back at her were bright blue eyes and long red hair. Her face that she had been so worried about, was perfect as always, and her arms were ink free as well. Satisfied with this, she began to get dressed for the day.

There was a knock on her door, and Nick entered the room. "Good morning, or should I say good after noon seeing how we all slept well past noon."

Candace looked at her phone, and sure enough it read 1:25. "Ugh, I love traveling but hate the jet lag part. What do you want to do today?"

"Well," Nick answered, "I thought we could go down to the village today, or what remains of today. The inn manager mentioned something the other night when we checked in about some sort of fair or carnival. Or we could go hiking and explore the forest."

Candace groaned. She hated camping. She hated the bugs, sleeping on the ground, and getting dirty. Her kind of camping was staying in an RV with all the comforts of home. "The carnival thing sounds fun. I wonder if the village looks like the ones you see in Harry Potter. You know, all cluttered together and quaint."

Nick chuckled at her reaction to his suggestions since she had completely skipped over the camping one. "I figured you would like the carnival thing more, but I still want to do some hiking while here. This land and the forests are well over a 1,000 years old, and there are thought to be some places that are still untouched by humans. Plus, Alice wants to do some sketching of the forest."

Candace sighed and said, "Alright. We can do the camping thing later this week. But you have to promise I won't see a single bug. And we get an air mattress to sleep on and not some dinky sleeping bags."

"Your wish is my command fair lady," said Nick as he did a mock bow. Candace just rolled her eyes at him. "I think we can rent some gear nearby and I'll ask about the bug spray. I think I'm still partially deaf from the last time a poor spider crossed your path."

Candace stuck out her tongue at him. "Are you sure that's my fault and not that music you blare?"

Nick stuck out his tongue at her and she laughed. "Oh, I'm quite sure. Now why don't you grab something to eat and I'll let Alice know we'll be leaving soon."

"Sounds good, Nick." Once he was out the door, Candace sighed. Of course he would invite Alice. She didn't hate Alice, but she wanted just Nick and her time, not Nick and his tagalong cousin time. Originally she had loved that he was close to his cousin, seeing how they were the same year. By going after his cousin, she could learn what he was interested in, and get an in with him through Alice. Now that she had him though, the tagalong cousin bit was starting to get annoying.

Actually the tagalong cousin wouldn't have been possible if Alice's sister hadn't decided to go to an out of state college two years ago. Before then, her sister, Alex, had watched after her and made sure people didn't bother her. People like Candace, the popular ones, who would often make fun of, or tease Alice due her height, shyness, or anything really. They would also take advantage of her shyness and the fact that she wasn't good at saying no. Then Alex had left for college, and Alice was all by herself. Seizing the opportunity, Candace befriended her, brought her into her circle of friends, and slowly managed to get Nick to go out with her; something so many other girls at the school had failed to do. Nick, wasn't the handsomest guy at the school, but he was charismatic, had a sense of humor, was an athlete, and unlike most jocks actually had a brain that he used. He was the kind of guy parents and teachers loved, the kind who was going places. Even now, they were both going to the state college in the fall. Along with Alice.

They soon arrived at Hollow Hill Village and Candace found it was not as Harry Potterish as she had hoped. In fact it was actually more modern than she would have thought. The buildings may have been much older than the ones she were used to back home, but they still gave off an air of being old and modern at the same time. Even though the three of them had driven through it the night before on the way to the inn, she was too tired to notice it in the darkness.

They—all three of them—visited the shops. Alice bought a new sketchpad while Candace bought a couple different clothing items—a scarf, some shoes, jewelry, and a new green jacket. Despite being May, there was still a bit of chill in the air. And the fact that it had been on sale and looked fabulous on her didn't hurt either. She couldn't wait to get home to show it off to her friends.

They also came across an interesting little shop called "Days of Yore". There were a number of antiques, but what Candace found interesting was the huge amount of merchandise of goblins, elves, and dwarves. There were t-shirts, keychains, postcards, books, statues, little figurines, and pictures. "Is this Harry Potterish enough for you?" asked Nick coming up behind her, followed by Alice.

"I don't know..." said Candace as she picked up a small figurine of an elf and looked it over.

"Our elves and goblins," said a voice near them, "Are much older than hers. In fact there are stories about elves and gobins in these parts going back hundreds of years." When Candace turned she saw a middle age woman talking to them. "My name is Martha Bigelow and my husband and I run this shop."

"Do people still believe in them?" asked Nick.

"Depends on who you ask. Most will say no. But that doesn't stop them from using the wishing wells that are said to be enchanted, or not letting their young daughters out at night alone."

Puzzled, Candace asked, "Young daughters?"

"The stories talk about pretty young unmarried girls kidnapped by the goblins and elves never to be seen again. If you want to read any we have several books containing the local legends."

"How clever," said Nick. "Use the stories to bring in business and attract tourists."

"Well, ever since Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter became popular, people are looking for 'magic' anywhere," admitted Martha. "It pays the bills and lets a new generation learn our stories and history. If you have any more questions or need anything I'll be up front."

Leaving them alone, Nick held up a t-shirt with the picture of a hideous goblin on it. One with fangs, wings, and claws. "So what do you think Candace?" asked Nick.

"It's disgusting," she said and shivered. "Why would anybody want to wear something so hideous?"

"Because it's so hideous and disgusting it's cool. Way scarier than those wimpy Twilight vampires."

Candace rolled her eyes and much to her dismay, Nick bought the t-shirt along with a couple other things of goblin merchandise. Candace herself bought a couple elf figurines, who in her opinion, were better than the goblins because they were prettier to look at. Alice ended up buying some postcards and a book.

Done with their shopping for the day and still waiting for the fair to set up, they stopped by a local pub and had dinner. Sitting outside on a bench afterwards, snuggled in Nick's arms, she looked up at the beautiful sight of the stars appearing in the night sky. She thought about how perfect the day had been—except for the tagalong cousin part, which Candace was willing to overlook. However, the perfect would not last long.

****Author's Note****

I would like to thank reviews from JayLah and Speederina. Sorry for forgetting to mention them last chapter. Reviews are always nice and welcomed. The next chapter is called Honor To Us All and will feature a king's Wife ceremony.

On a side note, some of you might notice this was updated on Thursday and not Friday. I normally update the story before I go to work at seven. But Wednesday I found out that on Friday I would have to go to another place for work, 40 minutes away and would need to be there by 6:30. So it was either update early or wait until about five o'clock tomorrow night. According to the story stats many of you read the update way before then, so I figured early was the way to go. And unless something unexpected comes up, Tuesday morning is when the next update will be.


	5. Honor to Us All

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or the song

**Honor To Us All**

Ever since the night before, when Inanna had made her decision, Eresha had stopped talking to her. It was quite clear how she felt about Inanna's choice. Inanna felt awful, but kept reminding herself it was for the best. The other elves in the camp were a different story. She had barely gotten up and eaten breakfast, which for the first time she had to get by herself, before she was bombarded by them. They asked if it was true about her choice, why would she choose such a fate, and on and on. Eventually she was rescued by the king's secretary who said the king wished to see her. The bothersome elves then went back to preparing for their own king's wife ceremony which they hoped would take place that night. Inanna picked up the bag she had packed with her belongings, not that she had much. Her father's hunting knife, her mother's brush, and her own winter clothes along with her cloak. She then made her way to the king's tent.

As she got nearer to the tent she started feeling ill. _Must be nerves_, she thought. When she entered the tent, she saw the king was with another elf. They were both studying some type of document.

"You wished to see me?" she asked.

The elf king looked up at the same time as his companion. Inanna let out a gasp, for he was not an elf, but clearly a goblin, the source of her illness. He wore a cape similar to the elf king's, except for being black, and was about the same height, but that was where the similarities ended. On closer inspection Inanna noticed he did not pink skin, but instead, green scales. His head was normally shaped except for his larger than usual eyes that were a bright yellow. He also had no hair on his head nor the rest of his body. His ears were pointed like the elves, except they too were covered in the green scales. And to top it off, as he stepped in front of the desk to get closer to her, Inanna caught glimpse of a curled tail causing her to let out a shriek.

"She's certainly a lively one Nir. Hello, I'm Marak Chamelonskin, your soon to be husband," Marak said as he stuck out his hand in a greeting gesture. Inanna just stared at it, suddenly realizing that it was really happening. She was really going to marry the goblin king. She slowly put her hand into his, _after all_ she thought, _I better get used to touching him_. She was surprised to find it was not as cold and rough as she had expected, but was instead warm, and perhaps not completely smooth, but not as rough as she first imagined. Besides being scaly, it was rather normal looking and wasn't a claw or hook that she had read that most goblin kings had.

Startled that she had actually had put her hand into his, Marak tilted his head to the side while he studied her. She said, "I'm Inanna, your… your future wife."

Marak lifted her hand to his mouth, his normal colored lips kissing it. "What a beautiful name for a beautiful elf." Inanna blushed, not used to the compliments. That caused Marak to grin.

Nir cleared his throat loudly. "Now that we are done with the introductions, let us move on the deal."

Marak sighed and said, "Hurry up, I don't want to be late to my own wedding." Nir glared at him. In a quieter voice, with one hand blocking his lips to Nir, he whispered to Inanna, "He's been like this since we were kids, so anal about everything. If I didn't know better I'd suspect he had a stick up his—"

"As I was saying," said Nir, cutting Marak off before he could finish the sentence, "We have just the formalities to go over." Inanna had to stifle a giggle. Perhaps life with her new husband might not be as she thought. He had a sense of humor at least. "Inanna, by agreeing to marry Marak Chamelonskin voluntarily, Marak Chameleonskin will not pursue Candace Bryden. Marak Chameleonskin will also let you out on the nights of each full moon, along with other times provided you, Inanna, do not run away and I, Aganir Suen, do not try to recapture you. We have already signed our parts, and we just need you to sign yours."

Inanna picked up the quill and signed where indicated, feeling as if she had just signed her life away.

"Good, now we can move on to the more important things, like our wedding," said Marak as he exited the tent. Inanna moved to follow him.

"Inanna," said Nir, causing her to turn back. "Thank you for doing this. I know of very few elves who would have your courage, and I'm sorry for the circumstances that have led you to do so. All future generations owe you. And if he doesn't make you happy, send word, and I'll see to it he does." Not knowing what to say at the words, Inanna merely nodded, with tears running down her cheeks.

As she stepped out she gathered her bag and took her one last look at the camp. Marak gave her a moment before placing his arm around her, which caused her to flinch. Acting as if he didn't notice, he said softly, "I promise you, it won't be as bad as you think," and then he lead her away from the only home she had ever known.

* * *

Inanna had closed her eyes as Marak led her to his kingdom. It was her way of dealing with the fear sickness that often affected elves while in the goblin kingdom. She also kept repeating over and over again in her head, _I chose this_, _I chose this_, to remind her that she was not a captured bride. When she finally opened her eyes she saw that Marak had brought her into a stone room deep underground.

She blinked her eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness. "You'll get used to the lighting, all elves do," he said as he started to put what seemed to be bracelets around her hands and feet, and gave her a cup to drink from. Grateful for something to drink, she gulped it down. "Somebody's eager. The bracelets are to keep you from doing magic during the ceremony," said Marak. Inanna started to say that she wouldn't do any magic, except instead of words, she let out a strange gagging sound. "The drink was to take your words away to prevent you doing as magic as well. All this is tradition; long ago elf brides were not as cooperative as you."

Just then, the door off to the side swung open and Inanna was being hugged before she knew what was happening. "Give her a chance to breathe, mother, honestly."

"Hush you," said the woman who had embraced Inanna. "Am I not allowed to greet my future daughter-in-law?"

"You're allowed to greet her, not strangle her. I want her alive for the ceremony." Inanna shivered at the words.

"Look, you're scaring the poor thing, now shoo. I'll take it from here," and before Marak could respond, he found himself outside.

With Marak gone Inanna turned and looked at the woman. She was a human, and had a streak of green in her graying hair. Her eyes had wrinkles around them as did the corners of her mouth, which seemed to be used to smiling. Inanna wasn't used to seeing wrinkles on the face because elves aged more gracefully than humans. Before now, the only human she had ever seen had been Nir's mother. This human had eyes that were full of warmth and laughter, and Inanna began to relax a bit.

Marak's mother spoke. "You can call me Aggie, which is short for Agnes, but Agnes is such a dreadful name for a person, I don't know what my parents were thinking, don't you agree?" Inanna just nodded her head. "Now, you're probably frightened and scared, but don't worry, I'll be with you, for the next part at least. In a second you'll find yourself in a room with a bunch of goblin women, who will bathe you, write on you to make sure you pass some tests, which I'm sure you will dear, and get you ready for the ceremony. I don't remember mine and had to read up on the ceremony, but just keep your chin up and everything will turn out alright." Inanna nodded once again, as she found herself being lead into another room through the side door that Aggie had come from.

True to Aggie's word, a bunch of women grabbed her and started to bathe her. Used to always bathing in a river, in addition to being overwhelmed by the sights and presence of the goblins, Inanna closed her eyes, wishing for it to be all over. Eventually, she was dragged out of the not a river thing and was put in front of a mirror. Inanna took in the red dress, the gold writing on her arm, the ribbons in her hair, and the single strand of hair separate from the rest. _Hopefully, I won't have to dress like this all the time_.

A voice broke into her thoughts, it was Aggie. "Don't worry dear, it's almost over, you just have the ceremony left. Remember, keep your chin up, and it'll be alright love."

She was soon lead out of the room and right into a pair of guards. _Chin up_, she thought. _If my chin is up then I won't have to look at what's going on around me_. She didn't notice walking through the sand, or heard the cheers of the crowd of goblins as she entered. It wasn't until she felt a pain in her hand did she finally open her eyes to notice what was going on. Marak had two knives which were being guided down his palm and hers. He frowned when his kept on going while hers stopped. Deciding to go back to keeping her chin up, she let herself be led over to another location, and watched in horror as Marak lifted up a golden sword and moved to bring it down upon her. She was about to scream, only to remember at the last second, that she didn't have any words to scream with.

****Author's Note****

I love Aggie. She's a bit of Molly Weasley and Mrs. Potts so she's warm and motherly, but if you threaten the people she cares about, you better watch out. There's also a bit of Tonks thrown in since she loves colors and still likes having fun. Originally she wasn't supposed to be in the story, but I was talking to my friend (the same who got me started on this story), and came up with her and Edith, Nir's mother. Don't know if it'll get mentioned, but Aggie introduced the goblins to chopsticks. That way they have some utensils to eat with, but aren't stabbing and insulting the meat. I've had that idea since I first read the series and thought Aggie would be the one to finally introduce it to the goblins.

Next chapter is Topsy Turvy and will feature another king's Wife ceremony as well, this time with Nir. Read, enjoy, and review!


	6. Topsy Turvy

I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song

**Topsy Turvy**

Once Marak had left for his ceremony, Nir quickly got ready for his. According to his guards, Candace was at the human carnival fair thing. On the one hand it meant being around a bunch of ugly loud humans, while on the other it meant a fast and plausible way to meet her. Besides wearing his cape, he also had on a pair of sunglasses to protect his eyes against the bright human lights. _At least they invented one useful thing_, he thought as he stood on the outskirts of the ground while looking for Candace in the crowd ahead. Nir finally spotted her due to her red hair and a green jacket that she was wearing.

He let a groan escape him. The _human_ was with her. _Well, that can be taken care of easily. Let's see, turn him into something useful like a deer, make him sick, send him off to dreamland_... he opted for the deer. It would get him out of the way, and the spell would wear off…eventually. Using his magic, he compelled the human boy to separate from the group he was with and to walk toward Nir, all without Nir's bride-to-be and the other girl noticing. The boy didn't even realize what was going on until it was too late. Looking down, he found himself on all fours. "Go on, shoo," said Nir and the deer ran toward the forest nearby. Satisfied with his work, Nir entered the fair grounds and made his way to his future wife.

Candace had turned her head for a second, only to realize the next that Nick was gone. "Nick," she cried, looking around her. "Nick, where did you go?"

"Did you lose something?" said a silky voice, coming from behind. She turned and saw a man. Not just a man, but a gorgeous man, as in a man that clearly belonged on a magazine cover as the image of perfection. Tall and thin, with thick black curls that were pulled back out of his face into a ponytail that covered his ears. His eyebrows curved up instead of down , but looked perfect on his smooth face. Candace didn't think anybody else she knew could pull that off. The only odd thing though was that he was wearing sunglasses at night, along with a cape and clothes that looked out of place, almost as if they were from some other time.

_Maybe he's in some attraction or play nearby that could explain the outfit. I bet his eyes are just as gorgeous as his face, too bad they're hidden behind the glasses. He must be hiding a hangover_. Taking his appearance in, and cursing inward that he hadn't come along before she started to date Nick, Candace finally replied, "Yes, my boyfriend Nick. He seems to have wandered off. He's six-three…"

Before she could continue the man interrupted her. Candace was not used to being interrupted and gave him a how-dare-you look. "I'm sure he's around here somewhere. Perhaps he went for a run through the woods," he chuckled. Candace just continued to stare. "I'm Nir by the way."

"Candace. Do you live in the area?" she said uncertainly. There was something about him Candace couldn't quite put her finger on.

"In a matter of speaking yes. My family has managed this land here for generations. Are you of age?"

"What?"

"Of age. Over eighteen."

"Yes," Candace said slowly, starting to realize that the guy was behaving creepily_. Maybe I should call the cops, but he hasn't done anything yet…I'm probably just paranoid._ Being gorgeous was no excuse for acting pervy. "I think I see him over there. Well nice meeting you," and then she grabbed Alice's arm, who had been standing there the whole time. She made a beeline over to the other side of the fair, only to realize that the creepy gorgeous stalker guy was still behind her. She would turn occasionally to check, and there he would be, close behind. That was when she decided that she had to use the bathroom.

* * *

Nir followed close behind until she went into a bathroom. He could tell he had spooked her and wondered if he should back off incase she decided to leave town for good. _No_, he thought. _I'm not going to let that smug bug-eyed goblin sit in his cave with his elf wife, while I return empty handed. No, tonight will be the night._ Determined, Nir took out the flowers he gathered ahead of time, and started stringing them together. He noticed the trash on the ground and thought, _filthy humans. They better clean this up when it's over or their next event won't last for long_. He started smiling at the thoughts of all the things he could do to the humans who dared to trash his land.

_ Perhaps I'll even invite Marak. He always good at thinking of fun ways to tease the humans_. The last time they had been together for such a thing, was when a couple of humans decided to 'investigate' a part of the forest that humans normally avoided, the part close to where the elves lived. The humans woke up the morning after in their underwear, high above the ground in some trees. Their video and investigating equipment were nowhere to be found. They climbed down as quickly as they could and ran out of the forest, yelling about ghosts. The incident had since discouraged any further investigations deep in the forest.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she finally exited the bathroom with her jacket hood up and a bag. _You're not escaping that easily_, he thought. Once again he used his magic, this time compelling her to come to him. He didn't want to risk her getting away, so he decided to do the ceremony there and then. They could celebrate with the elves later, but right now he just wanted to get the ceremony over with.

"Take off your shoes," he ordered. She hesitated then did as he asked. He slipped on the anklets first. Next he grabbed her wrists and slipped on the bracelets. He said the words, the flowers whirled and settled on her skin. "Congratulations Candace, you are now the wife of the elf king."

He was startled by the reply, "But I'm not Candace. I'm Alice."

****Author's Note****

So, remember the whole, 'best laid plans go astray' part in the summary? This is what I was talking about. I've been planning this from the very beginning, the idea of what would happen if one of the kings married the wrong girl? When I had the idea in the beginning it was along the lines of, girl tricks goblin king to save sister/friend and what happens after. It gradually changed to what you read now and I like this version better.

The switch was why I tried to write as little about Alice as possible and concentrated on Candace because I wanted it to be a surprise. It's why whenever somebody commented on Nir and Candace I kept my mouth shut because I was too afraid of giving anything away. Now that it has been revealed, I will admit I have a couple other surprises in store and they come in the aftermath of this one. If any of you saw this coming, I can only say congratulations as I tried to give as little hints as possible.

Next chapter is all from Alice's P.O.V. and is over 2,300 words, my longest chapter yet. She's not just some little extra character, but has her own story. It's just Candace has a very powerful and demanding personality and as a result Alice disappears into the background whenever Candace comes along. It's why neither Nir nor Marak paid that much attention to her when the girls arrived or even when Nir introduces himself to Candace. The chapter is called: Very Good Advice. Appropriate considering what movie it's from.

I would also like to add, that the story is now only a third over. There are still two-thirds to go. Also thanks to JayLah and speederina for reviews which are always appreciated. It's nice to know that people enjoy my writing. So read, enjoy, and review!


	7. Very Good Advice

I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or the song

**Very Good Advice**

Alice was short. Alice wasn't thin, but she wasn't fat either. Her hair, depending on the lightning was blond, auburn, or brown, and also depended on who you asked. It was straight and hanged limply at her shoulders, with her bangs hiding her eyes along with her glasses. Her eyes couldn't quite seem to decide what color they were either, similar to her hair. On some days her family would swear they were green, and on other days they would swear they were brown. Her overall appearance made Alice look rather plain looking, and as a result people forgot who she was very quickly. This was worsened by the fact that she was also shy, hardly ever speaking to strangers. She was also non-confrontational. And Alice knew all of this.

Others knew it as well. As a child, other kids would take advantage of her constantly. Asking for a pencil to never give it back, taking part of her lunch before she had even said yes, and even bumming money off her without the intention of repaying. Her older sister, Alex, was the opposite of Alice—forceful and direct. She tried protecting Alice when she could, glaring at anybody who dare mistreat her sister. However, being two years older than Alice meant she wasn't always around. Especially when she decided to attend an out of state university instead of the local one, leaving Alice all alone. It was a decision that Alice still did not understand. How could her sister leave her all alone and defenseless?

When Candace Bryden had set her tray at lunch the first week of junior year, and had started to talk to Alice, Alice was shocked. She looked around to make sure that it was really her Candace was talking to and not somebody else. Candace was one of the popular kids. Tall, pretty, a cheerleader. Her and her posse usually ignored Alice, teased her, or were the ones who took advantage of her when her sister wasn't around. Thinking that it was a dare or joke, Alice just smiled and waited till the bell rang. But then Candace did it the next day, and the next, gradually bringing her posse with her. She started to invite Alice over to her house, parties, or even going out. When Alice told Alex, Alex had told her that Candace was up to no good, and to stop hanging out with her. But Alice couldn't. For Candace had started to protect her like Alex used to. There were a couple times that Candace's posse would ask for stuff—solutions to the homework, money, chapstick—Candace would tell them to get their own, just like Alex used to. When they would start to protest, Candace would glare at them, just like Alex used to, and they would shut up. For this, Alice was grateful toward Candace, even knowing that Candace was merely taking her time to wait until she would ask a much bigger favor of Alice than the ones she had saved Alice from combined.

She made her move a week before the winter dance that junior year. Candace had been dropping hints that there was a guy she liked, but he just always ignored her. Finally, one day, she admitted that it was Nick, Alice's cousin. Nick was well liked at the school—an athlete, scholar, class clown—and the girls were always after him. He cared for Alice and tried to pick up for Alex being gone, but it was hard since his class schedule was much different than hers—he was in mostly AP classes while Alice and Candace were in regular ones. That day Candace asked Alice to get Nick to ask her out to the dance. And hadn't Candace protected Alice all those times? Hadn't Candace invited her to sleepovers, parties, and other events? Was it too much to ask from her _best_ friend? So of course Alice said yes. She always had. Nick, feeling sorry for not being there enough for Alice agreed, just once he had said. Except that night Candace and Nick had hit it off. And they had been together ever since.

It was an unspoken agreement between the three—Nick would date Candace as long as Candace would look after Alice and Alice was included. It was why all three of them were going to the same university in the fall. Nick had gotten several academic and athletic scholarships and was going to major in pre-med, Candace wanted to go where Nick went and decided to major in interior design, and Alice wanted to go where Candace went and was still undecided. Alex had encouraged Alice to join her and major in art. Alice had protested by saying Alex would be too busy with her engineering classes, and sketching was more of a hobby. Alex didn't push her and it was dropped.

Then the Europe trip had come up. Alice knew that Candace was jealous of both of her older sisters, Brittany and Ashley, and the cruises they had gotten for graduation—she complained the whole time about how it wasn't fair—and knew Candace was planning something. When her parents had announced their gift, Candace had started to shriek until they mentioned the one stipulation. Candace could take Nick, but she had to take somebody else as well, so not all her time was spent with Nick. After all, they already had one grandchild out of wedlock—thanks to Brittany—they didn't want another one. So Candace had chosen Alice. For although Candace protected Alice from others who would use her, Candace didn't protect Alice from herself. She knew that Alice had and would always give her what she wanted. Unless of course Nick insisted that Alice join them. Like insisting that she join on the village trip.

Alice had been excited to see the architecture in the old English town. It was much different than home. Here the architects had built things to inspire and last. At home, buildings were built to be built fast, cheaply, and last until the next big thing could be built. She had even stopped to buy a sketchpad at one of the stores. She had also stopped at another store, called Days of Yore. She found the appearance of the goblins and elves fascinating, but unlike Candace and Nick, she had already heard some of the stories.

* * *

The night before, Candace had yelled at the maid taking her luggage and Alice had went to help her. After helping her with the luggage inside, the maid had turned to her and said, "Loud one, isn't she? Acting all high and mighty simply because daddy buys her everything."

"She takes some getting used to," replied Alice shyly.

"I bet. I'm Miranda by the way, Miranda Richardson," said the maid sticking out her hand to shake.

"Alice." Miranda as she was called, looked to be a couple years younger than Alice and had her auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"My parents own this inn and me and my sister help them out. Of course I've been doing more of the helping recently."

Seeing the look on Alice's face, Miranda elaborated. "My older sister, Tilly, well Matilda really, got knocked up by some bloke who stayed here a while ago and is now on bed rest since she's about to pop. She always falls for any guy who says pretty words to her."

"Oh," said Alice unsure of what else to say. "What is it?"

"With Tilly's luck, twins of course, a boy and a girl. She plans on naming them Marak and Aggie. She says the names came to her in a dream or some nonsense like that. If it wasn't for the fact that we look alike, I would swear we weren't related at all. Tilly still even believes in the stories our grandparents used to tell us."

"What kind of stories?"

"Just stories about goblins, elves and the like and how they used to kidnap unmarried girls in these parts. I think they used to tell us the stories to scare us into obeying them at night."

"They sound unpleasant."

Miranda shrugged. "I don't believe in them anymore. It's why my parents say I was born with the brains of the family while Tilly was born with the beauty. I don't mind, once I'm done with school I plan on going to a university and doing something with my life. Unlike Tilly who'll be stuck here with her kids to take over the inn and lodge someday."

Just then they heard somebody yelling. "Alice, where are you? I _need_ you!" It was Candace.

"Good luck with that one," said Miranda as Alice left to go see what Candace needed.

Candace had needed to know where her beauty stuff was so she could get ready for bed. Once Alice was done she had gone to bed herself.

* * *

And here she was a day later, out in Hollow Hill Village surrounded by the goblin and elf merchandise. While Nick bought some horrible shirt that Alice agreed with Candace about, Alice herself bought a book containing the local stories and sketches, and a figurine of an elf for a friend of Alex's. She had also bought some postcards that she mailed home to her family, telling them of the day so far, including the stories. After dinner she started to sketch some of the surrounding buildings while trying to ignore Candace and Nick making out in the corner. It had been a perfect day really. Made even more perfect by the fair that night.

Alice had been with Candace when Nick disappeared. She was debating whether or not to stand on the nearby bench to see over the crowd when _he_ had appeared. His appearance reminded her of one of Michaelango's statues—each feature chiseled to perfection. Part of Alice wanted to ask if she could sketch him, not that she ever would. Instead, she tried to memorize his features to sketch from instead. The sunglasses he wore made it difficult because they blocked his eyes, so Alice would have to improvise, which shouldn't be that hard. The only downside was that he was at least a head taller than she was so she had to tilt her neck up in order to study him. She wasn't at all surprised when he started to talk to Candace, not even noticing her. Everybody did the same thing. What she was surprised at was how creepy he was acting. Asking Candace if she was of age, and even following them when Candace tried to walk away.

Candace had led Alice to the bathrooms, pulling out her cell phone. After finally getting a signal while standing on a toilet she said,"Of course Nick doesn't even answer the one time I need him," she said after hearing his phone ring and ring until it finally went to his voicemail. Candace started to do some other stuff on her phone, and just when Alice was about to ask if they should call the cops, Candace looked at her. Alice knew that look. It was the look Candace had right before she was about to ask for something from Alice. And of course Alice wouldn't say no.

"Alice," she began, "Nir, if that's even his real name which I doubt, only seems obsessed with me. If you switch jackets with me, he'll think you're me and you can distract him while I make a dash for the car. When he discovers you're not me, he'll let you go. What do you say?"

Alice chewed on her lower lip, thinking it over. "What about Nick?"

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere. When you find him you two can call a cab to meet me back at the inn. Please? For your bestest bestie?" Alice of course, couldn't say no.

Which was how she found herself wearing Candace's jacket out of the bathroom while carrying her own bag with her sketchpad in it. Her other souvenirs were in the rental car that Candace would soon be making a run for. Of course, the sleeves of the jacket were slightly too long, but Candace has assured her that guys didn't notice the finer details of fashion, and had pulled the hood over Alice's head before pushing her out the door. "Thanks, bestie!" she had cried. "See you soon at the inn."

With the hood over her head, Alice could barely see in front of her. For some reason she felt she should walk to the right, which she did. Soon she found herself standing in front of Nir, or at least she assumed it was Nir by the clothes. He said, "Take off your shoes," which was a weird request, but Alice soon found herself more than happy to comply. Looking down she saw that he was putting what looked to be leis on her feet. Next he grabbed her arms, and put the lei looking things there as well. All the while she stared on curiously, wondering what would happen next. As she was about to ask, Nir said some funny words and the leis started spinning before sinking into her skin, appearing as tattoos. By this point, Alice was very curious as to what was going on. Then Nir had said, "Congratulations Candace, you are now the wife of the elf king."

Not paying attention to the elf king, or wife part, Alice could only concentrate on the Candace part. Which is why when she finally spoke, she said, "But I'm not Candace. I'm Alice."

****Author's Note****

Thanks to speederina, JayLah, AiramS, and fruba14 for reviewing. Reviews are always nice and welcome. They let me know what people like/dislike of my story along with any issues that I need to fix. I'm also glad that everybody enjoyed the twist as much as I did. It was nice to know all the effort I put into keeping my mouth shut paid off. Now if I can only just keep the rest of the story a surprise.

I would also like to give a shout out to all my international readers. I never thought I would get so many readers in the U.S.A, let alone the rest of the world. So thanks to the readers from Denmark, Germany, Australia, and China. It makes me feel all nice and special inside.

Moving on, the next chapter will get back to the plot, but I just wanted to show Alice's view of everything that happened. I also enjoyed putting in the Miranda/Matilda tidbit along with tying it back to the first chapter.

Next chapter is Following The Leader. I would also **highly** **recommend** paying attention to the Author's Note in the next chapter for a **special announcement**. It's nothing bad, I promise. As always, read, enjoy, and review!


	8. Following The Leader

Once again, I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or the song

**Following the Leader**

Nir stood dumbfounded for a couple seconds. How could, he, the elf king, miss something as big as this? Looking at the girl before him, it was quite obvious she was not Candace. For starters she was much shorter. Even though she was wearing the same jacket, it was bigger on her, the sleeves covering her hands. She also had a bag instead of a purse. In his haste to get married and not to be out done by the goblin king, he had let himself be tricked and fooled into marrying the wrong girl. The girl in question spoke once more, "Wait, what do mean I'm now the wife of the elf king? Is that what all the flowers whirling around was about?" This snapped him out of his daze. _What to do, what to do….the only way out of the marriage is death, and killing her would be wrong since it was my mistake_.

Sighing, he took the girl's hands, and pulled back the hood. _Might as well see what my new bride looks like_. She wasn't as beautiful as Candace, but she wasn't as ugly as a goblin either. Her hair was a dark goldish brown, and her eyes were more a hazel color_. I suppose she'll do_. "You are now my wife," he said. "I'm Nir, the elf king." Ignoring the dumbfounded look on her face, he then guided her back to the elf camp.

The only elves that knew what his bride was suppose to look like were the guards who had kept him informed of his bride to be. That was the reason they were surprised to see the human girl Nir had with him as they entered camp. The rest were surprised that this girl was supposedly being fought over by the goblin and elf kings.

Eresha was the first to say something. "You bartered my sister away for _her_?" she said marching up to Nir, and pointing at Alice.

"There was a misunderstanding. This is Alice," Nir answered.

"What kind of misunderstanding?"

"They entered the same building together, and left separately. Afraid she would get away, I performed the ceremony immediately on the one who I believed was Candace. I was mistaken, and I married Alice instead."

"You mean she was a mistake? You mean my sister married—"

Before Eresha could continue, Nir said, "Enough. Your sister volunteered, remember that Eresha. Furthermore, what is done is done. I've married Alice and she is now my wife. It is later than I hoped, so the celebration will be postponed until tomorrow."

Eresha started to walk away in disgust, but not before saying to Alice in English, "I hope you're happy with yourself, my sister is rotting away with a monster in vain because of you."

Once Alice had spoken that she wasn't Candace, she finally concentrated on the last part of Nir's statement: that she was now the wife of the elf king. As the words sunk in, she decided to speak since Nir was clearly still in shock, which turned to confusion. His mouth was slightly open, and his slanted eyebrows were furrowed, trying to make sense of it all. Alice wanted to give a little laugh at the expression on his face since it looked all wrong with the rest of his features. But she thought doing so would have been a bit too mean. After all, she knew what it was like to be laughed at. Instead, she said,"Wait, what do mean I'm now the wife of the elf king? Is that what all the flowers whirling around was about?"

Nir looked up at her and answered, "You are now my wife," he said. "I'm Nir, the elf king." Alice didn't struggle as he dragged her into the woods, because she was thinking over those words. She felt as if she was in some sort of weird dream that any second she would wake up from. It wasn't until she arrived at the elf camp did it begin to sink in. This wasn't some dream that she would wake up from. It was real. And suddenly she realized how Alice in Wonderland must have felt after following the rabbit down the hole—more terrified at the thought that what was happening was real, wondering if one was to ever return home—than curious about the new world one was in. _I want to go home_, she thought as all the elves, at least she assumed they were elves, looked at her. _I want to go home right now_.

The elves had all their eyes on her. It was truly an unnerving experience, having hundreds of gorgeous people that could have been marble statues, all turn their beautiful eyes onto you. Made worse by the fact that Alice was naturally shy, and was well aware that she wasn't that much of a beauty. She wanted to melt into a puddle right then and there. Instead she was gripping Nir's arm in terror. _The figurine I bought for Alex's friend was a much friendlier looking elf than this group._

Then an angry looking elf woman came up to Nir and started yelling. Alice gazed at them confused, for they were speaking in an language she didn't understand. _It makes sense that elves have their own language I suppose, after all they did have it in_ Lord of the Rings. The elf woman was clearly furious, Alice could tell without speaking Elvish. Then the elf woman turned to her and said in English, "I hope you're happy with yourself, my sister is rotting away with a monster in vain because of you." Not knowing what to make of it, she looked to Nir, but he was holding her hand again, this time taking her to a tent.

On the way she sneezed a couple times. When Nir looked at her she responded, "Allergies." Nir sighed at this. He bet Candace didn't have any allergies to the outdoors.

Once inside Nir kissed her eyes after removing her glasses, and wrote some funny symbol on her feet. "The flowers are part of a spell to keep you from harm. What I just did now was finishing the king's wife ceremony by putting the boundary spell on you along with the sleeping spell. From the time the sun rises to when it sets you will sleep. Also you can go anywhere you want, but the boundary spell will keep you within my territory."

Pushing the news to the back of her mind, Alice asked, clearly surprising Nir, "What did she mean her sister was rotting away with a monster because of me?"

Hesitant to answer, Nir finally did so. "Besides elves, there are also goblins and dwarves. They live below the ground." He said this pausing to let the words sink in. She nodded and so he continued, "The goblin king, Marak, and I both wanted the same bride—Candace. You see the goblin king can only marry a dwarf, human, or elf female. However, the elf king can only marry a human female." Once again he paused and Alice nodded tfor him to continue. "In the old days goblins would kidnap elf brides, until they struck a truce to stop doing so since the elf population was so low. In recent years the elf population has tripled what it used to be a hundred years ago so I offered the goblin king a deal. If an elf would volunteer to marry Marak, I would be able to marry Candace. The elf who err... spoke to you was Eresha, Inanna's sister. Inanna was the one who volunteered."

"Oh," said Alice, who suddenly comprehended what the fighting was about. Inanna had volunteered to marry Marak so Nir could marry Candace. Except Nir didn't marry Candace, he married Alice which was why Eresha was so mad. It was also why Alice felt so horrible. If only she had had the courage to say 'no' to Candace.

Sensing her thoughts, Nir said, "It is my fault. What is done is done and now you are my wife. Eresha will just have to get over it. Oh, how old are you?"

"Eighteen. Why?" Alice didn't hear Nir's response because she was asleep. The sun had risen.

****Author's Note****

First, a big thanks to reviewers speederina, JayLah, and fruba14. Reviews are always welcomed, but if you leave me a signed one, I will reply, usually within 24 hours.

I would also like to add, that Nir is still in shock, and he's trying to make the best of a bad situation. He's not as okay with what happened as he seems to be. He just wants to appear in control to the elves. You'll see his true reaction in a couple of chapters. Next chapter will have Marak's reaction to the news. Also be on the look-out for on the lookout for a Gibb's head slap from NCIS. The chapter is called Something There.

Now it's time for the **surprise announcement**. When writing Ever, I had another idea originally, but couldn't make it work. So I wrote Ever intending for a **sequel**. This means there's things mentioned throughout Ever that don't mean much now, but will in the sequel. So if you are bored and have a lot time on your hands, you can go through and try to find them. I can count at least one in this chapter.

I can't say much about it now since Ever isn't done. But since Ever is officially half over, I thought I would finally announce the sequel. I can say it takes place four months after Ever ends. The sequel title is After, with the summary and first chapter title coming in Ever's last chapter, 16, unless something unexpected happens. Ever should end on a Friday, and After should begin on a Tuesday. So far I'm halfway through writing it.

Excited? Surprised? Let me know in reviews or by PMing me. Don't forget, read, enjoy and review!


	9. Something There

I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song. Or NCIS.

**Something There**

After the ceremony Marak had brought a sobbing Inanna to the room all king's wives go to the first night in the kingdom. He removed the bracelets, gave her back her words, and stroked her hair. He told her what a brave elf she had been, and no previous elf bride could compare. She didn't have to be dragged to the altar, didn't scream when Charm was placed, and had only started crying after everything was over. Eventually she had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder.

The next day Marak left her in the room to get adjusted to how goblins lived and slept, along with recovering from the ceremony. He had asked his mother to stay with her until she woke up, not wanting her to be alone her first day in the goblin world. He was currently in his office when his secretary, Babar entered. His mother had suggested the name after a children series due to his similarities to the main character, an elephant. "I believe congratulations are in order."

"Indeed. And what about our dear elf friend? Are congratulations in order for him as well?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" asked Marak, putting down the book he was reading and leaning forward, suddenly interested.

"Apparently, he followed her to some human fair thing with a friend. Both went in the bathroom and one came out. He grabs her and performs the ceremony then and there, only to find out he married the wrong one."

Marak burst out laughing. "Grabbed the wrong one? He never checked he had the proper bride? That's hilarious. Leave it to an elf to screw something up as simple as a nabbing a bride. Was he too distracted by the pretty stars in the sky to notice who he was marrying?"

"Nah. The girls pulled a switcheroo. They put the right girl's jacket on the wrong one. Wrong one came out, and suddenly found herself married."

"That's wonderful. Maybe we should go ahead and capture her anyway. Two for the price of one. You'd like a human bride, wouldn't you Babar?"

"A tricky one like that? No thanks. Besides, you know I have feelings for Kayta. Anyways, it wouldn't be safe. The humans are crawling up there looking for her. To nab another human bride so soon would be madness."

"Indeed, but very tempting. Times have changed. If it wasn't for centuries of magic keeping us safe, I actually might be concerned with all their new toys. Speaking of Kayta, Kayto must be pleased. Remember the mischief we use to get into?"

"I certainly do, along with the headaches that your father and I got," said Marak's mother who just walked in. "I thought you might like to know your bride is awake. Right now she's taking a bath and getting dressed. Such a curious little thing. Once I showed her how the bathroom worked, she fiddled with the knobs for ten minutes before I finally came here. Although so far she is much better than the other one. This one at least seems to have some brains."

Marak chuckled. "Have you heard the news?" he asked her.

"About Nir? Poor thing, he must have been so nervous."

"Poor thing? I think it's hilarious! The deal was his idea to begin with, and he goes and messes it up. Babar and I were discussing the merits about going and getting the right girl."

Aggie walked over slowly and whacked her son on the back of the head. She was possibly the only one in the kingdom to be able to get away with doing such a thing. "How dare you. And what about the girl who he married, that he didn't mean to? How would you feel if you were forced to marry someone against your will, only to find out you weren't the one he wanted? If anything you're partially responsible."

"_Me_?" Marak asked aghast. "How am I responsible?"

"Yes _you_. Ever since you were kids you were always egging him on. How do you think he felt knowing you were marrying the first elf bride in over a century because of him? Do you really think he was about to go back to his people empty-handed that night, after the way you acted?"

Marak was a grown man. But the one person who still had the ability to make him feel like a child was his mother. "What do you want me to do about it?" he asked. "Return Inanna?"

"Don't sass me. Go to him. Comfort him. He probably feels like a fool and the last thing he needs is you rubbing it in his face. Let him know how Inanna is doing. Speaking of Inanna why don't you go and spend the day with your wife? She should be done by now." Not even waiting for a reply she headed to walk out the door. On her way out she said, "Babar, tell your father to meet me in the jewel garden tonight. I know he's not doing well since your mother died, and needs some company." He merely nodded at her. He too was cowed by the former king's Wife.

* * *

Marak went to his new bride who had just finished dressing. "Hello there," he said to her.

Inanna looked up at him and asked, "What am I suppose to do?"

"Do?"

"As your wife, what are my duties?"

"Ah. You can do whatever you please. Some king's wives teach the pages, others study magic, some just sat around and chatted all day. My mother made friends with everybody and learned their skills—blacksmithing, cooking, weaving—thank goodness for spells or she would have burnt this place down several times over. As the king's wife, our subjects will look up to you. They'll dress like you, start trends based on what you do—you'll see a lot of goblins with a streak of color in their hair like my mother. Although I suppose they'll be copying you now, since you're the new wife."

"Don't all humans do that?"

"Some. But most don't, or only color their natural hair color when their hair starts to gray."

"Oh." Inanna looked down at her hands.

"But right now the best you can do is adjust to the kingdom. The better you adjust, the sooner the heir will be born." Inanna's face paled at the thought. Although she had accepted the fact that she was married to the goblin king, the matter of having the heir hadn't settled in yet. At this Marak continued, "Of course being an elf I'll have to use magic to help you through, but it'll be fine."

"What will he look like?"

Pleased with her interest in their son, Marak responded, "It depends on us. We look for what we like or stands out in each other and the heir will reflect it. For example, my mother loved my father's eyes and so I was born with them. My father loved my mother's fondness of color, so I was born looking like a chameleon." Noticing her puzzled expression, he decided it was time for a demonstration.

Inanna's jaw dropped as she watched her husband's skin turn from the normal green, to match the tiles on the wall behind him. Not done, he stood up and walked around the room. For a while the pattern on his skin would stay, and then he would stop in front of something else-the bed, curtains, door- and he would pick up a new pattern. He turned his skin different colors: bright pinks, rich bluess, along with polka dots and stripes. Once done, he sat back down next to her. "Not quite invisibility but more like camouflage. Originally I was named Marak Chameleontail, but my parents changed it once they discovered my unique talent. One day my mother went to pick me up from the cradle, only to discover two yellow eyes staring back at her and no body." He chuckled at the story along with Inanna's wide-eyed reaction.

"Do you think our son will be like that?" Inanna finally asked.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps he'll be different. That's the thing about goblin kings, they vary so much from generation to generation. Elf kings however stay the same and don't vary. Their first fathers didn't believe that perfection can be improved upon. Ours knew better. Goblin kings also hope that their sons are better than them. And with you as a mother, I know ours will be." His response was a blush spreading across Inanna's cheeks.

Trying to distract her, he asked, "Would you like a tour of the kingdom?"

"But don't you have other things to do?"

"What's more important than making sure my wife settles into the kingdom?" Inanna smiled at him. It was a smile he was starting to love.

****Author's Note****

As always, thanks goes to fruba14, JayLah, and speederina for reviews. Reviews are nice and motivate me. I was stuck on a chapter for After, and once I saw their reviews, it motivated me enough to finish the chapter and write three more.

Moving on, Marak and Inanna are really starting to grow on me as a couple. Originally the story was suppose to be about Alice/Nir, but then I had to come up with an elf for Marak and grew to like her. As a result there are a few chapters just for them, this being one of them. And I got to fit in a Gibb's head slap in, which I really enjoyed. Next chapter will be a break from them though, and will feature Candace, along with a deerless Nick. It's called: Strange Things.

Enjoyed the Gibbs-style head slap? What about Marak/Inanna as a couple? Let me know! Once again, read, enjoy, and review!


	10. Strange Things

I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song

**Strange Things**

It was two in the afternoon before Candace had managed to get away. She had gotten back to the lodge after four in the morning, waiting for Alice and Nick to show up. Nick had arrived a little after the sun had risen. Alice wasn't with him. After discovering that Candace had no idea where his cousin was, Nick had taken control. He informed the inn keepers, Mr. and Mrs. Richardson. They informed the police. The police interviewed them, with the only information available: a strange man had separated Nick from the girls and drugged him. Then the strange man had, presumably, taken Alice.

A search and rescue team was organized, but so far they had found nothing. By noon the news that an American teenage girl had been kidnapped from a fair while visiting England had made international news, and the press was soon at the inn along with search volunteers. Candace had finally managed to get away by saying she felt tired. Which was true. Normally she would have loved being the center of attention and being interviewed by reporters, but she was tired of being asked over and over again: what did he look like, did you see him take Alice, do you know where she is. Candace had replied over and over again the same story: She had been looking for Nick. The man had spoken to them. He followed. She went in the bathroom for a minute, only to come out and find Alice was gone and so was the man. No she did not know him. No she did not know where Alice is.

Nick entered the room and sat next to her on the bed. "I'm so glad you're here, I don't know what I would do without you," she said embracing him.

Nick pushed her back, saying, "What really happened?"

"I told you what happened. I went—"

"I don't mean the story that you told the cops. I mean what really happened," Nick said slowly, his voice starting to rise.

"I don't know what your talking about," denied Candace.

"Oh really? Then where's the jacket, Candace? The one you bought yesterday, the one you were wearing last night. Where is it?"

"Alice got cold, I let her borrow it."

Don't lie to me!" yelled Nick. "I have a killer headache and spent the night having a weird dream that I was Bambi because of the drug that bastard gave me. I come back to find you wearing Alice's jacket with yours gone along with my cousin. Tell me the truth, _now_."

Nick had an easy going personality, it took a lot for him to get angry. But when he did… Alice had put it best once by describing him as Dr. Jekyll becoming Mr. Hyde. In fact, Candace could count on one hand the number of times she had seen Nick angry. And none of them could compare to this. Which is why she gave in and told him the truth.: that she had made Alice switch jackets with her.

"What is wrong with you? You made my cousin pretend to be you, knowing that a crazy guy was trailing you?"

"He was after me, so I thought that he would let her go once he discovered what happened."

"You thought? Wrong, Candace. You didn't think at all. You never think of the consequences for your actions."

He got up and started to pace. "But she volunteered—"

Nick laughed. "Volunteered? You think I don't know what you do to Alice when I'm not around? You think I don't know how you use her, that you take advantage of the fact that she can't stand up for herself and say no? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"But, what was I supposed to do, Nick?" Said Candace, her eyes starting to tear up.

"Anything else. Call the cops, ask for a ride back. Stay in the bathroom all night. Confront the guy yourself. Anything besides sending my cousin out to that psycho on a silver platter."

"But Nick-"

"Don't 'but Nick' me. I have to go and pick up my aunt, uncle, and cousin from the airport in a couple hours, and try to explain to them why their daughter went missing on my watch. Don't 'but Nick' me. You know what, I'm through. I'm through with you, your lies, you manipulativeness. I'm through with putting up with all your B.S. I'm through."

He went to the door, "I'm sorry," Candace cried following him.

He turned saying, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing too. You should be apologizing to Alice. You will apologize to her family once they're here. You won't tell them the truth; I don't need them knowing what an idiot I was choosing the girl who would lead my cousin to the slaughter. Alex already gives me enough grief over you. You will say you are sorry for being a moron and leaving her alone outside and you will join the search and rescue teams." With that Nick left, slamming the door behind him, and Candace on the floor crying. _What have I done?_ She thought. _What have I done? All I wanted was this trip to be perfect. And now everything's ruined._

* * *

Nick slammed the door behind him as he left the room. He was so angry at Candace. But he was angrier at himself. He was angry that he was not there to protect them. He was angry that the guy had somehow managed to distract and drug him without ever putting up a fight. He was angry that his cousin was missing, and he had done nothing to stop the slime ball from taking her.

When Alice had guilted him into asking Candace to the dance, he thought it would be a one time thing. He knew who she was, and also knew that she was vain, selfish, and just using Alice to get to him. It wasn't until he picked her up that night did his mind begin to change.

After walking through the door, Nick understood why Candace was the way she was. Why she strived to be perfect, to be the queen bee at the school and put down anybody she didn't like. Why she strived to be the center of attention and tried to get what she wanted. When he arrived her mother said, "Oh Candace you shouldn't let this one get away. He's going places, and it's not like you'll be getting into Harvard like your sister Ashley did," followed by a shrill laugh. From there she went on and on about how Ashley had just graduated valedictorian, been invited to a prestigious law firm right out of school, and was currently dating a senator's son.

Next was Brittany. Brittany who had managed to get a full ride for her athletic skills. Brittany who was a champion swimmer, whose coach said she would make it to the Olympics. Of course, this was a year before she got pregnant. But still. It continued throughout as pictures were taken, and Candace's dad would join in occasionally with lines like, "Well at least you got your mother's beauty." Candace would just stand there, taking it in saying nothing. It was probably the first time that Nick had ever seen so quiet, so small.

That night, Nick had felt sorry for Candace. It was why he started to date her. For their first date he had taken her to a park an hour away, a castle maze place that she had talked fondly of from when she was younger. She had dressed nicely, expecting to go to a fancy restaurant, only to find herself at the park. At first she had whined and complained, but by the end of the night she was barefoot, dressed hiked up, and having a blast. It was the first time that Nick had seen Candace truly smile and happy, not just faking it. After that he did whatever he could to see that side of Candace, the real side. He enjoyed the challenge of bringing out the real Candace from beneath the fake, buried by her parents constantly comparing her to her sisters.

Nick was aware of how she acted toward Alice. But he figured it was better for just Candace to use her than everybody else to. At least Candace looked after her when he couldn't. He knew Candace would never go to far with the favors, or at least he hoped. But last night had proven him wrong. He didn't know what Candace was thinking. Correction, he knew she was thinking, how to get what she wanted—in this case being left alone—and consequences be damned. That was the way she always thought. How to get what she wanted, not caring how she got it. Normally she was able to get away with it, people shrugging it off, because she was Candace. Except this time she had gone too far.

All he could think of was those criminal procedural shows on TV. Of his cousin lying in a ditch somewhere due to some psychopath. Of her being raped, tortured, and god knows what else. And because this was real life, he had no guarantee of a happy ending. He had no guarantee that there would be a sudden light-bulb moment when everything would become clear, the cops would bust in at the last moment, taking out the bad guy while rescuing his cousin. As he walked down to join the search and rescue teams Nick thought, _if only my life were a TV show. Because then I would know everything will work out. Even a book would be nice if only to get that happily ever after._

****Author's Note****

First, a big shout-out to reviewers fruba14, JayLah, noonface and speederina. They made my day! It was interesting to see the range of views on Marak and Inanna, and Alice and Nir. Next chapter will be returning to Marak and Inanna though, with Alice and Nir to follow next Friday. Be on the look out for references to the original books. It's called: Beauty and the Beast.

This chapter has been a long time coming. For starters, it shows that there is a reason why Candace is the reason she is. It by no means excuses her behavior, but it does explain things, hopefully. It also showed Nick isn't a complete moron and knew how Candace treated Alice, and knew that there was more to the story. Also, one thing I've noticed about modern fics, is not very many deal with the kidnapping after-math on the human side. I mean, in this day and age, if a teenage girl went missing, without a trace, it would make news. Especially if she was a tourist, and was last seen with a 'stranger'. So expect to see more of what happens in the 'human world', especially since Candace still has some issues to deal with before the story is over.

Out of curiosity, what do you think of the Disney-themed titles? They started out because 'Chapter 1' was too boring for me, and I settled on the song titles for some excitement. There's enough of them out there to cover any chapter I'll ever write, I'm a big Disney fan, it fits nicely into the ever after theme, and I thought they would be nice teasers. Was just wondering what everybody what everybody else thought.


	11. Beauty and the Beast

I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song.

**Beauty and the Beast**

Marak decided to start small, not wanting to overwhelm the elf on her first day. Making sure the other goblins stayed clear so Inanna's fear sickness wouldn't increase, he took her to the hall of history with display cases from various goblin king's reigns. He pointed out the notables. Inanna stopped in front of a case from Marak Catspaw's reign. It contained a tunic that changed color depending how you look at it.

"How pretty," Inanna commented.

"It was made by an elf you know."

"An elf made that? But it's not brown or green," said Inanna, referring to the traditonal colors that elves wear.

"True. Her name was Irina and she was thought to be one of the last elves living before Marak Catspaw found your camp and realized who Ash was. See that case over there? That's what she was wearing at the time. Her camp was very small and none of the elves knew Elvish or spells. It was why they were led to believe that it was natural for elves to die in childbirth."

Inanna let out a gasp. "How horrible."

"Indeed. She came here with another elf, Sable. Marak Sixfingers taught them how to use elf magic and it turned out Irina was quite gifted with clothing and tried all different things. The tunic you see there she made for his son, Marak Catspaw. He had one green eye and one blue eye so she managed to create a similar effect on the tunic. It became an honor for the goblin women to have a dress made by her. In fact, one of her descendants, Kayta, heads the seamstresses and weaving today."

Inanna looked down at her own dress. Wanting the elf to be comfortable, he had requested some be made for her. "If you want, I can introduce you two. She would be more than happy to make some dresses for you and you should be comfortable with her since she is a rather strong elf-cross. Some dresses that have color if you want?"

"Wouldn't it be inappropriate?"

"Inappropriate since you're an elf? Nonsense. Irina wore pretty dresses as did Sable. Why shouldn't you, since you're a king's wife?"

Inanna beamed at him. "That would be wonderful. I wish I could create pretty elf things like that."

Marak chuckled. "I'm looking at a pretty elf thing right now."

Still not used to compliments such as that, Inanna started to blush which made Marak chuckle all the louder. Trying to distract him she said, "My magic is more concentrated in studies, learning, and writing. You can't do much with that."

"Inanna, there's another place I want to show you."

* * *

"This is the library. We have thousands of years of history year. Every goblin king recorded a volume about their reign, and more specifically their wives. I already started mine on you."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. I wrote about the deal, how you volunteered, and how brave you were in the ceremony. You're more than welcome to read them. Can you read Goblin?"

"All elves learn some Goblin and English at school when we're young. Depending on what we choose to do decides if we keep at it. Most of what I read was Elvish, so I'm a little rusty on Goblin."

"Don't worry, it'll come back to you. I forgot that Nir's mother made it mandatory for elves to learn English and Goblin in addition to Elvish."

"His mother? She died when I was young, right after his father did, but I didn't know she started it. I know that she was highly involved in it though."

"Ah, apparently Aganir Agmun didn't want the story to spread and no wonder. For centuries once a human bride married the elf king they were forced to stop speaking English and assimilate into elf culture. Nir's mother refused, citing the best way to understand other cultures is by speaking their language. She went on hunger strikes. His father forced her to eat, she would throw it back up. She gave him the silent treatment and apparently the seven stars spell didn't feel that his order for her to speak to him was reasonable. He finally gave in on the grounds that if she learned Elvish, the elves would learn English and Goblin."

Inanna laughed. "How do you know that?"

"Because she told my mother who told me. As the only two humans among elves, goblins and dwarves they were close. They didn't always agree, but they still got along each full moon well enough."

"I wonder if Nir's wife and I will get along."

Marak chuckled forgetting that Inanna hadn't heard the news. After telling her what happened she said, "How horrible. After all that trouble and he married the wrong one."

"If it makes you feel any better I'm going to see him tonight. I'll let you know how he and she are doing. Before we got sidetracked I wanted to show you something else. Here are the volumes written by the king's wives."

"Really?" asked Inanna, her interest peaked.

"Oh yes. They were started by Marak Sixfinger's wife Kate. She was an elf-cross and actually was the first wife allowed out on full moons. She saved the kingdom and returned, so Marak thought it was only fair to let her out. After finding out about the king's wives chronicles she decided to start one for the wives about the kings. You can read all about her in hers, but it is in English. Arianna, the last elf bride before you, continued the tradition and hers are in Elvish. The rest are in English seeing as the last couple brides have been human. My mother is still writing in hers, and you can start yours any time you like."

Inanna beamed at him. It was something he was definitely starting to like. "She sounds so brave. To come back after having the chance to be free."

"Oh, she was. But she wasn't always so fond of her husband. She fought the whole time while he was trying to capture her, and he of course didn't realize she was an elf-cross until the ceremony. It was why she had been able to fight so hard and long. She only agreed to marry him if he would help her find her sister who had gone missing."

Inanna sighed and looked at the ground. "I agreed to marry you to get away from mine."

"Nir said something similar. And although I am sorry for the circumstances, I am very glad you're here. Now, to the seamstresses!" He exclaimed, pumping his arm into the air, causing Inanna to laugh once more to Marak's delight. _Perhaps it won't be so bad here after all_.

****Author's Note****

Once again a big thanks goes to speederina and JayLah for reviews. They're always appreciated. Hopefully Friday things will be back to normal. The next chapter is Jack's Lament and will return to what's going on with Nir and Alice. Read, enjoy, and review!


	12. Jack's Lament

I do own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song. Sadness indeed.

**Jack's Lament**

After visiting Kayta, who had been more than happy to fulfill an order for new clothes for the new king's wife, Marak had left Inanna with his mother. Aggie was refreshing the elf's memory of English and Goblin so she could read the chronicles and eventually start on her own. By that point the sun had set and Marak decided to visit Nir. It was almost too easy to slip past Nir's guards into his tent. With his camouflage skin and powerful magic, there was no challenge to it. To add to the challenge he would pick the guard's pockets and shuffle around the items and watch their confused expressions when trying to find an item.

Eventually Marak found him in his tent reading some book. "Why so down, pretty boy?" He said as he pulled up a chair and propped his elbows over the desk. When their grandfathers had gotten together to discuss plans for dealing with the human wars, the goblin king at the time refused to sit on a mat and had a chair brought over. It was still there and still used by the goblin kings when dealing with the elf kings. Since elves hated being underground and trapped, it was easier for the goblin king to visit the elf king on unofficial business when the truce circle was not needed. The boundary spell had also been changed. The boundary spell was originally intended to keep goblin raiders out., but Marak Catspaw and the goblin kings since agreed that for the elf population to recover, no elf brides could be captured for a while. So the boundary spell was modified to allow goblins to pass through as long as they didn't intend any harm toward the elves. If they somehow manage to make it pass the boundary and then do harm inside the camp, it would go into a lock-down type mode. Nobody would be able to get in or out of the camp until the elf king performed the proper spells and dealt with the irate goblin.

Not even bothering to look up, Nir responded, "Did you come here to gloat?"

Taken about, Marak replied, "_Me_? What is it with everybody thinking the worst of me? Did it ever occur to you that I thought you might need a shoulder to cry on?"

"Your mother sent you, didn't she?" Nir asked without missing a beat.

Marak carefully phrased the next bit to be as honest as possible, which was very hard for him, "Well yes, but that doesn't matter. What does is I'm here for you in your time of need."

Nir was silent for a while. So Marak prompted him, "So, what's her name?"

"Alice," was the simple response.

"Where is she now?" Prompted Marak once more.

"The elves are fitting her with new clothes. Which reminds me, here's her bag. Get rid of the human stuff inside. She doesn't need them anymore."

Nir handed him a bag and Marak looked inside seeing a cell phone, iPod, Alice's clothes from the other night, a sketch book, and her wallet. "Do I look like your maid?" Marak asked sarcastically.

"No, but you can get rid of it properly so it won't harm the environment." Marak frowned. He had been expecting a sharp retort or smirk from Nir. But nothing.

He tried again. "What's wrong with you? Yes you picked the wrong girl, but either get it over it or, well, you know."

"Yes, I know. But it wouldn't be fair to her to, to kill her. This is my fault."

"Then what's the matter?"

"The elf population was devastated and almost wiped out all because one elf king caused his wife to resent him so much she switched the heir," Nir lamented.

"So? Are you afraid she'll resent you? All captured brides do at first, but they get over it eventually." Nir didn't respond. "Unless," Marak said slowly, tilting his head, "It's not her that you're afraid will do the resenting. It's you. You're afraid that you'll resent and hate her for not being Candace."

Nir simply sighed, confirming Marak's theory. "My mother loved my father so much when he died, she refused to come out of their tent. She was so filled with grief that I had to send her to sleep permanently so she would no longer be heartbroken. I wanted a love like that, and thought I found it in Candace."

"I remember that, absolutely ghastly time. I had to send mother over to get you out of that funk and remind you of your duties. Which of course is how we ended up here in the first place, finding wives."

"Yes, and I thought I found the ideal one so we could have a love that could rival my parents," said Nir, giving another heavy sigh.

"You mean you wanted her to waste away for you?" Nir glared at him. Internally, Marak felt a bit of satisfaction. This was the Nir he knew. Continuing he said, "What you felt or thought you felt for Candace wasn't love. It was desire. Love is when you'll do anything to make the one you're with happy, or just to see that smile once. That's love," Marak said, thinking of Inanna and the day earlier.

"Alice hasn't smiled at me once. I brought her back, finished the spell and she slept. I woke her up, fed her, and handed her over to Lalia to be fitted."

"That's it? You just handed her off without a word? No wonder she hasn't smiled at you. Smiles aren't given they're earned."

Nir retorted, "Somebody's full of wisdom today. Perhaps there's some sense in that head of your after all."

"Be like that. But for your information, Inanna smiled _and_ laughed at me today. I showed her the kingdom along with the library, which she loved. That's how you earn a smile. And to think I was actually concerned about you." With that, he turned to walk out the tent flap leaving a stunned Nir alone with his thoughts.

_She actually smiled and laughed at him? I look ten times better than he does and Alice just looks, just looks like she's about to burst into tears at any moment and doesn't say anything. He's the monster not me. Ugh, so why then do I feel uglier than a goblin right now?_

* * *

Marak felt a thud on the back of his head. Turning around he saw a very angry elf holding several rocks in her hand. "Where's my sister?" she demanded.

_Ah_, thought Marak _this must be Eresha. She is just as lovely in person as Nir and Inanna described_. "Nir married the wrong human. Therefore your marriage with her is voided, so where is she you monster?"

"You must be Eresha, my new sister-in-law. Incase you're wondering, your sister is adjusting to goblin life just fine. I showed her the library today which she loved, and she's getting several new dresses. I actually got the bride I wanted, so I won't be returning her. Besides, the only way to sever the bond between the king and wife is death, which I assure you won't be happening anytime soon," _I hope_, thought Marak remembering how his knife went farther than Inanna's. "But I'll tell her you send your regards."

With that he walked out of the camp, leaving a stunned Eresha behind. Never before in her life had she spoken to like that. She was a lord's daughter after all and the other elves in the camp treated her with the respect she deserved. She was still standing there in shock as the Wrong Girl walked into Nir's tent.

* * *

Nir heard somebody enter the tent. "What is it you want now, you annoying lizard?" he shouted in Elvish. Turning he saw it was only Alice. Switching to English he said, "I thought you were somebody else." She was wearing an elf dress with shoes, along with flowers woven in her hair for the dancing later that night. _She doesn't look that bad_, he thought. _Actually the green dressed brings out the gold in her hair. Odd, that I didn't notice that before_. Then his eyes saw the bag that Marak was suppose to take in the corner.

"Alice, I have done you wrong." He stood up and removed her shoe.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Setting you free. I just removed the boundary spell from you. Your bag is in the corner. Go back to your people and family."

"But…"

"Go, before I change my mind."

Alice grabbed her bag hesitantly. "Thank you," she said and smiled. As she exited the tent, Nir thought of how funny it was; that her first smile at him was because he was letting her go.

****Author's Note****

A big thanks to fruba14, speederina and JayLah for reviews. Reviews are always nice and welcomed. I'm happy to say that at one in the morning on Wednesday, I finally got power back. 80 mph straight line winds, and a tornado that was sighted was the cause. The only lasting damage is having to throw away a fridge and freezer of food away, but that can be dealt with and is better than having no house, no laptop, etc...

Moving on, I liked how this chapter turned out. When I first wrote the conversation between Marak and Aggie about him going to visit Nir, it wasn't planned. I was just typing along, going with the flow, and it came out. I decided to go with it and it furthered the plot along. Nir gets to see how his relationship pales in comparison with Marak's and naturally he's not happy.

The next chapter is Human Again with Alice's POV. Can't believe there are only two weeks left of this fic before After. The next three chapters are all plot, but the last chapter is an epilogue of sorts. It takes place a couple months before After begins.

As always, read, enjoy, and review! Reviews brighten my day!


	13. Human Again

I do not own the Hollow Kingdom or song.

Thanks to JayLah, speederina, SiriusBlackisSeriuslyfunny333, and fruba14 for reviewing. Reviews always make me feel special and encourage me to write more.

**Human Again**

Alice had woken up to only realize, it wasn't a dream. She had been mistaken for Candace and was now the wife of the elf king. Nir, sensing she was awake handed her some bread. "Eat this," Nir said and left Alice alone in the tent. She picked at it. Even though she hadn't eaten since the day before at the pub, she found she had no appetite. Spotting her bag laying in the corner, she picked it up. Finding her cell phone, she started to dial 911, only to stop and wonder if it was the same number here as it was in America.

Nir entered the tent and seeing what she was doing, grabbed the phone from her. "It won't work. None of your human stuff will. There are too many protection spells on the land and they cause interference. Besides, you won't need any of that stuff now." He put the phone back in the bag. "Laila is waiting outside. She'll see to it that your fitted with proper clothes." With that, Nir exited the tent once more.

_That's it then, I guess_, Alice thought. _No good morning, or I guess in this case it would be good night. No, how are you doing, do you need anything? Just, eat this, don't do that, go get rid of your clothes. Is this how it's always going to be?_ Tears started slipping out of the corners of Alice's eyes. Lalia, or at least Alice, assumed she was Lalia, poked her head into the tent and gave Alice a glance over. "Come on now, we have a lot of work to do before you'll be ready for the party tonight." _But I don't want to go to a party. I want to go home. _

Alice soon found herself at a river that was freezing cold. Seeing her hesitation, Lalia and the other elves there grabbed her and scrubbed her down. When done, they gave her a green dress similar to their own, along with what she assumed to be an undergarment. They made her stand still while Laila went around pinching off the excess material off the undergarment so it confirmed to Alice's body. Then she laced a belt on and put the green dress on top. The material was free fitting and elastic-like. It was the most comforting thing Alice had ever worn in her life, even if it was a dress which she normally avoided since they didn't fit well giving her body type. One of the elves, a blond one, grabbed the clothes Alice had been wearing and started to walk away. "I need those," Alice said, but the elf just shook her blond head at Alice.

Laila stood next to her and said, "You no longer belong to the human world. You are now the elf king's bride, and as such you must start behaving as an elf." _But what if I don't want to behave like an elf?_ But she didn't protest. Laila then led her to another area where she sat on the ground while Laila began cleaning her feet. Alice had only had a couple pedicures in her life, when she was with Candace. Having somebody touching her feet was awkward then and it was awkward now, her foot kept twitching as Laila cleaned them. "Stop fidgeting," she told Alice.

Once done an old male elf joined them and put some goopy liquid on her feet. "Sit still," Laila told her. "It's the inner sole and needs to be fitted to your foot." Alice found the goop was soon hardening and the old man started to stitch the outer part of the shoe to the inner. Watching the bone needle speed back and forth made Alice so nervous she had to close her eyes. While he was doing that, she could feel other elves combing and braiding her hair.

When he was finished, Laila told her to stand up which Alice complied with. "Hm… Much better than before," she said slowly walking around her, taking in her new appearance. The other elves showed their approval by nodding their heads. "Let's go show the elf king what an improvement you have made."

So Alice entered Nir's tent only to have him yell at her in a language she once again didn't understand. Switching to English he said, "I thought you were somebody else." She then noticed her bag in the corner. Following her eyes, Nir surprised her with what he did next. "Alice, I have done you wrong." He stood up and removed her shoe.

"What are you doing?"

"Setting you free. I just removed the boundary spell from you. Your bag is in the corner. Go back to your people and family."

"But…"

"Go, before I change my mind."

Unsure, Alice grabbed her bag and smiled at him saying, "Thank you."

* * *

On her way out of the camp, Alice ran into a familiar looking elf. _Eresha, she's the one who yelled at me last night about her sister._ "Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Home," Alice answered. "Nir took the boundary spell off of me and said I could go home."

"He what?"

"He said he felt sorry for the mix up and I could leave, so I am."

Alice walked past her, but not before Eresha grabbed her arm turning her around. "Are you really so stupid you think it's that simple? That you can just walk out of here, marriage null and void? Just because he let you go, you are still the king's wife. No wife means no heir. No heir means the elves will die out. One stupid human nearly caused that and you're about to do it again."

"But I don't want the elves to die out. I just want to go home."

"Well there is one way out of the marriage… but, you probably won't go for it."

"Please, tell me," Alice begged her.

Eresha grinned and answered, "The only way to sever the bond between a king and his wife," Eresha stopped to pasued to put more emphasize on the last part, before finally saying, "is death."

"But Nir said the star spell thing keeps me from harm."

"Nir said Nir said. Did Nir tell you that there are two parts to the spell? The first prevents direct harm to from yourself or others—stabbing, poisoning, strangling, smothering—the second part orders you away from harm. Eat this food so you won't starve, come out of that river so you don't get sick. You see? If Nir's not around to order you, the second part won't have any effect."

Alice looked at her and said, "You've thought this out."

"Well of course. What else I am to do now that I'm all alone because my sister had to leave me because of the deal? How else shall I spend my time? Simply imagining my sister all alone in those cold, horrible caves is so overwhelming… and now knowing that the elf population will gradually dwindle back down to nothing, after spending more than a century trying to build it back up," and then Eresha leaned in and whispered, "all because he chose the wrong girl." With that, Eresha sauntered back into the camp, leaving Alice all alone, thinking about what had been said.

* * *

Alice wandered into the woods. She could hear people nearby crying out her name. She wanted to go running toward them, screaming 'Here I am' at the top of her lungs, but the thought of causing an entire race of people to die out stopped her. _I don't want to be a murderer_. But she also wanted to go home. It was then she heard a noise close by. Looking down on the clearing below her she saw the last person she expected to see.

****Author's Note****

Anyone care to guess who it is? Find out in Friday's update, If I Never Knew You.

On another note, JayLah brought up a point about the boundary spell on the camp preventing Marak from entering. I had an explanation, but forgot to include it. I've gone back and corrected the chapter, but for those of you who read before the correction, here it is:

When their grandfathers had gotten together to discuss plans for dealing with the human wars, the goblin king at the time refused to sit on a mat and had a chair brought over. It was still there and still used by the goblin kings when dealing with the elf kings. Since elves hated being underground and trapped, it was easier for the goblin king to visit the elf king on unofficial business when the truce circle was not needed. The boundary spell had also been changed. The boundary spell was originally intended to keep goblin raiders out., but Marak Catspaw and the goblin kings since agreed that for the elf population to recover, no elf brides could be captured for a while. So the boundary spell was modified to allow goblins to pass through as long as they didn't intend any harm toward the elves. If they somehow manage to make it pass the boundary and then do harm inside the camp, it would go into a lock-down type mode. Nobody would be able to get in or out of the camp until the elf king performed the proper spells and dealt with the irate goblin.

Hope it makes sense to those of you who noticed, and a thanks to JayLah for pointing it out. This is why reviews are nice. They can point out problems with the fic that I may have overlooked, and then I am able to address any issues.

Now for something else. This weekend I wrote my longest chapter ever, over 3,700 words, aka Eresha's chapter, for After (five more chapters to go till it's done) and I decided to take a break from writing and do some exploring. I went to the forums and communities of some of my favorite categories, and must say I was saddened by the Clare B. Dunkle's section. There's only one forum, Truce Circle by Roxy87 that has been up for over four years, and doesn't have any posts. I know the Hollow Kingdom is a small fandom, but even on deviantart, there's an active community that even has competitions occasionally.

Come on fellow Hollow Kingdom lovers! Let's be more active with this section and show our support for the series and Dunkle's books. Let's have discussions, ficship competitions, and more.


	14. If I Never Knew You

I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song.

I would like to thank JayLah, my ONLY reviewer for the last chapter. Some more love this chapter, please? There's just one week left before Ever is over and I would like it to end on a high note.

**If I Never Knew You**

Once Nick had left, Candace had continued to sit there on the floor crying. _It wasn't my fault_, she repeated over and over again. Maybe if she said it enough times it would be true. She didn't get up until Nick texted her that Alice's family had just arrived and she better come down and greet them. She looked in the mirror and for once she didn't look perfect. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were red and puffy. Her tears had caused her makeup to smear on her face. For once, Candace didn't care. Things would never be perfect again.

She made her way down the stairs and into the parlor where Alice's family had been gathered away from the media to have some quiet. Even though Candace knew Alice's parents were divorced, they were behaving well together. They were even sitting together holding hands on a loveseat. Nick meanwhile was talking to his cousin Alex, who was standing up next to her seated parents when Candace entered the room. "I'm sorry," Candace said in a small voice. "I'm sorry for what happened."

Alex glared at her along with Nick. Taking in her appearance, Alice's mother tried to comfort Candace by saying, "It wasn't your fault dear. It could have happened to anyone."

Alex started to say something along the lines of it being Candace's fault when her phone rang. "Finn?" asked her father. She nodded and stepped out of the room. Alice's father turned to her and said, "I'm sure you did everything you could. Now we just have to hope Alice comes back to us."

"Candace wanted to meet you in person when you arrived. Now she's going to join the search and rescue teams before it gets dark," said Nick grabbing her arm. "Aren't you?"

Candace just nodded. It was all she could do.

Although night was falling, the twenty-four hour deadline was fast approaching. Typically, if a missing person wasn't found in twenty-four hours, the chances were slim that they would ever be found, especially alive. Candace had been given a group to go with to search a certain area. Unfortunately, Alex was in her group as well.

"What did you do to my sister?" she hissed at her as they started walking in the woods.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please. I know my sister. She would have never stood outside at night with a psycho on the loose by herself. She would have been griping your arm in terror."

She was right. Alice had been griping Candace's arm in terror. When Candace had entered the bathroom with Alice, she had tried to look up Nir and his claims about the land belonging to his family. All she could find was that the area had been named a protected wildlife refuge about 100 years ago. Nir was never mentioned. Deciding he was a liar who was trying to impress her, that's when she came up with the idea to send Alice out instead. She wasn't about to tell Alex this. She may not be as smart as Ashley, but she wasn't dumb either. Telling Alex the truth would be sealing her fate. Instead she said nothing.

Not discouraged, Alex continued to interrogate Candace. "I'm going to find out sooner or later. It should have been you, not my sister we're looking for right now."

Candace said nothing in response. All she could think of was that Alex was right, it should have been her. It should have been her all along. _It really was my fault. Not matter what they say it is my fault, I should be the one missing_. So consumed with her thoughts, Candace didn't realize that Alex had gone on ahead, and Candace had lost track of where she was. Looking around her, she realized she was lost. She took out her phone only to find no signal. She was supposed to stay where she was until the group found her. But Candace didn't care. That was then she happened to glance up. Stepping closer she was shocked at who it was. Alice.

* * *

Neither of the girls said anything, both taking in the others appearance. For the first, and probably only time in her life, Alice thought she looked better than Candace did. Her clothes were crumpled, her hair was in tangles, and her eyes were red and puffy with streaks of tears down her cheeks, smearing her make-up. In short Candace looked like a mess. And some small part of Alice felt proud that she had somehow managed to affect Candace like this. Alex was wrong, Candace did have a heart after all. Or maybe it grew two sizes like the Grinch's.

As for Candance, Alice reminded her of an Indian or a forest sprite dressed in a green form fitting dress with flowers braided in her hair. With the soft glow of the stars and moon above, Alice had an ethereal glow about her pale skin. Candace could only think, _I wonder if that's what happens when you die._ Candace was the first to speak. "I'm sorry Alice," she sobbed, falling to her knees. "I'm sorry for making you switch places with me and letting that monster take you. It should have been me, it should have been me." Candace buried her face into her hands.

_Monster?_ _Oh_, thought Alice. _They don't know the truth. I suppose it would look as if I had been abducted by Nir, which I guess I actually was… and that's why there were people calling my name. I thought they figured I got lost, not that I had been kidnapped and… oh. My parents, and Alex, and Nick and… Candace_. Alice turned to the girl who was kneeling down before Alice, still crying.

Alice shifted from foot to foot, unsure of what to say. Finally she admitted, "I guess I'm partially to blame. I knew better and should have said no to you. I knew it was wrong but I did it anyway."

Candace sniffed. "But that's it. You never say no, no matter what I asked and I knew it. Nick was right. I never think of the consequences, and because of me you're... you're dead."

_Dead?_ Alice looked down and thought, _I suppose in this get-up she might take me as an angel or ghost or something._ Alice began biting her lower lip, for she now had a choice to make. She could tell Candace the truth that she wasn't dead and rejoin her family, while innocent elves would die because of her… or return to the elves to never see her family again. _It's not fair, I shouldn't have to choose. I shouldn't have to choose between being a murderer and seeing my family. Nir made the mistake, he said so... but... but... life isn't fair. _The last bit sounded like Alex's voice_. I could have said no to Candance and I didn't. I guess some of the blame does belong to me after all and Nir isn't entirely the one at fault. I made my choice and now I have to deal with the consequences, like Candace._

While Alice was having this internal struggle, Candace was having one of her own. Her's was much simpler. _It's all my fault, it should have been me... it should have been me... how can I live with myself when it should have been me?_ She kept repeating this mantra in her head over and over again.

Alice this time, was the first to speak. "Candace, I want you to…" Alice choked back a sob, knowing she would never see her family again. "I want you to go back to my family and tell them I'm happy," _at least I hope I'll be, eventually_. "That I'm at peace and to stop looking for me. Tell Alex I got my ever after."

Candace looked at her in disbelief, sniffing. "Do you forgive me?"

Looking at her Alice realized, Candace didn't want her forgiveness, but _needed_ her forgiveness. It was the only way she could ever forgive herself. "Yes, I forgive you Candace. But don't forget what happened to me. Stop using people. Think your actions through before you act. If you don't I'll know about it, and I'll… I'll… go all _Christmas Carol_ on you, except you won't have another chance like Scrooge." Alice felt a small amount of satisfaction at this declaration. She had a feeling Candace would change for the better, if not for the benefit of others, then for the fear of being a paid a visit by Alice's spirit.

Candace then did an un-Candace like thing to do: she wiped her nose on her jacket. It was all the self-control Alice had to not laugh at this and ruin the otherwise somber moment. "Thanks Alice. That's more than I deserve. I know I used you, but for what it's worth, you were my best friend. My only friend, actually. None of those other girls would have done what you did. They just hung out with me because I was popular. Not that they actually cared about what happened to me."

Alice smiled. "I know. Truth is, you were probably my only friend as well. Well, at least more of a friend than some of the others were."

"So this is goodbye?" asked Candace, who had finally stopped crying.

"I think so," said Alice. "You will pass on my message, won't you?"

"Of course," said Candace, even giving a little laugh. "I hate to see you go all _Christmas Carol_ on me." And with that the two girls parted ways for the last time, each going back to their respective worlds.

****Author's Note****

As mentioned, one review last time, and one week left of Ever. Don't make me beg for reviews.

So was Candace a surprise? Or did you see it coming? Let me know! I had their meeting planned for a while. You'll see why next chapter, which is called: Dig a Little Deeper.

Also, if you're interested in helping restore activity in the forum, let me know in a review or PM me or JayLah. That is all.


	15. Dig A Little Deeper

I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song.

I would like to thank Viole, JayLah, speederina, and fruba14 for reviews. Sorry for sounding desperate last week, but I had a bad day Thursday. When I say reviews brighten my day I mean it. Leaving for work at 6:30 and not returning till 4:00 can be tiring, especially since the majority of the time I'm out in the hot sun. Last Thursday my car had an incident with a wood post at work (my car survived just with a couple big dents). So after that and coming home to see one review, I was upset when editing Friday's chapter. Friday went much better. I got home to find way more than one review! So thanks for the reviews, they really do make my day much better. Enough rambling, now on to the story.

**Dig a Little Deeper**

Candace somehow found her way back to the search party. Once there she was treated with 'what were you thinkings' and 'you should have stayed puts'. Candace didn't care though and ignored all of it. Alice had forgiven her, and more importantly Candace had forgiven herself. "I saw Alice," she said quietly.

The group started crying out for more information, but Candace continued. "I didn't see her body. I saw her ghost, spirit, a vision of her, whatever." The group quieted down at this revelation. This was clearly something that they hadn't expected. Candace went on with, "She was dressed like, Sacaj-what's her name, with flowers in her hair." She turned to face Alex who was clearly doubting her story. "She said to tell you that she was happy, at peace, and to stop looking for her. And Alex, she said that she got her ever after, whatever, that means."

The rest of the group gave her hugs and stroked her hair saying she had been through so much the past day and what a traumatic experience it must have been. There was talk of simply calling it a night and beginning again tomorrow so Candace could get some much needed rest, poor girl. Alex however, stared at her doubtfully, with not a trace of forgiveness on her face. In her mind, Candace was as far from being a poor girl as one could get.

* * *

Alice found her way back as well. Of course, she had run into an elf guard who had led her there, but it still counted in Alice's opinion. The look on Eresha's face had been priceless as Alice reentered the camp. She had clearly been expecting Alice to kill herself, not to come back alive. _If only I had my camera with me. Oh well, I'll just have to memorize that look for later_.

"What happened to doing what was best for the elves?" Eresha demanded of her.

"I did. I decided to come back. You pointed out that no wife meant no heir. I'm here. That means there will be an heir someday." _Hopefully sometime way, way, into the future_.

Eresha clenched her jaw and fists. "You, you, wretched human brat…" She moved to strike her, seven star spell be damned.

To the surprise of both of them, Alice caught her arm and held it. Channeling her best Alex impression, "Don't you dare touch me. Last time I check I was married to the elf king, which makes me a queen. I may be just some, how did you put, 'wretched human brat', but I still outrank you."

By this point the other elves had gathered round, including Nir who looked on admiringly. _She came back. Despite everything she came back, and now she's putting Eresha in her place. Perhaps I choose wisely in my wife after all_, he thought.

Seeing Nir, Alice turned her attentions away from Eresha and to him. "You're not the only one to blame, I realize that now. I knew that Candace was up to no good, and I could have said no. But I didn't and now we're in this together. Let me properly introduce myself. Hi, my name is Alice Thompson," said Alice, sticking out her right hand.

Nir chuckled softly and took her hand into his shaking it. "It's nice to meet you Alice Thompson. My name is Aganir Suen. Would you like to dance with me?"

"If you don't mind showing me how."

"It would be my pleasure." Starting the first dance of many that night, Alice smiled at him. _Marak was right, _Nir thought_. But I just won't tell him. After all, he would just say, 'I told you so'._

* * *

Marak and Inanna had just woken up when a guard knocked on their door informing they had a guest. There were now in the throne room, facing Inanna's sister, Eresha. "So you see I wish to stay here with my sister," she told them, finishing her story.

"Does Nir know about this?" Marak asked.

"No. But between the elf guards and the goblin guards it won't be long until he does." Marak considered the elf in front of him. On the one hand he had another elf volunteering to join his kingdom. On the other… his own guards had informed him of the happenings between Alice and Eresha, and his opinion of her was constantly decreasing with time, especially after hearing about how controlling she was over Inanna. There was still his wife's happiness to consider after all. But if Eresha meant well…

"I cannot allow an unmarried elf to reside in my kingdom, it would be too great of a chance to pass by for my people. However, you will be given one year to decide. If you fail to choose a goblin, I will choose for you. Understood?"

"Understood," Eresha replied quietly.

"Furthermore, I have heard of the mischief you caused in camp. Your lies and schemes will not be tolerated, here understood?"

"I understand. I only want what's best for Ana."

"Marak," asked Inanna, "Can I have a moment alone with my sister?"

Marak had thought of taking Eresha aside himself, threatening her if she tried to control his wife. Looking at the determination in those dark, endless, eyes he decided that it might be better for Inanna to stand up to her own sister by herself. It was clearly something she had been waiting to do for some time, and now was the perfect opportunity. "Of course. Seeing how she skipped out on Nir, I'll write him a formal letter of what's going on."

Exiting the room, Inanna was left alone with her sister. She knew the moment Marak walked out the door Eresha would go back to her old ways and Inanna would never be truly free. She had run away to the goblin kingdom, the one place she was sure her sister would never follow. Except Eresha had. She'd follow Inanna anywhere she went and Inanna knew that now. _I'm a king's Wife_, she reminded herself. _If Kate was able to negotiate to marry the goblin king to save her sister, and then go on to save the kingdom, surely I can at the very least stand up to my sister_. _If I don't do it now, I'll never be able to_.

"It's so wonderful to see you! No hug for your big sister?" Eresha said smiling, opening her arms for a hug.

"First," said Inanna, "be warned, Marak was serious about what he said about marrying and your schemes."

"Yes, well about that, are you sure you can't—"

Inanna cut her off. "I'm serious. I'm a king's wife now. No manipulating me, no controlling me, no protecting me anymore. You are in my kingdom now and you will act like it. If you are here to do any of those things then I would advise to go out those iron doors and return to the elves. If however you are here because you truly care for me and want to be with me, I can only say welcome."

Eresha smiled and said, "Of course. After all, I only want what's best for you."

****Author's Note****

So the story didn't have that much of a climax, but the sequel will more than make up for it. I knew Alice and Inanna had to be able to stand up to their respective bullies and come to terms with their choices. I also knew I wanted Candace to realize actions have consequences. As for Eresha, she has her own issues which will surface in After, specifically her 3,700+ word chapter which explains **everything** from her P.O.V. including why she joins the goblins.

Friday's update will have a mini epilogue of sorts. It takes place two months after this chapter, but two months before After begins. It's called Bella Notte and will feature the summary for After along with the first chapter title. Honestly, it doesn't feel like Ever is this close to being over. It seems last week I was counting down the days till Topsy Turvy posted so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping the Alice/Candace twist no longer.

In other news, for those who haven't heard, JayLah and I created a new forum, the Hallow Hill Lodge. We're hoping to have discussions, writing challenges and more. So go check it out and leave a comment if you're interested in being a part of it. You could also PM me, JayLah, or respond in a review.


	16. Bella Notte

I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song.

Thanks goes to JayLah, speederina, and fruba14. Not only have they reviewed the last chapter, but they also have been my constant reviewers, something that I'm really grateful for. I would also like to thank Viole, SiriusBlackisSeriuslyfunny333, noonface, AiramS, Roxy87, and tess for reviews as well. Even one time reviews are appreciated because I get to see so many different people enjoying my story that I didn't know before. Hopefully you'll enjoy and review After as well.

Also a shout to everybody who has put this story on alert and favorited it. I hope you'll do the same with After.

As of typing this, Ever has had 887 hits. So thanks to all of you who made that possible, including all the anonymous, international, and active readers. 887 hits is much more than I imagined I would ever get for this story, so thanks for making it a success.

One final thanks to my friend who got me started on this. I now have Ever, and three one-shots posted thanks to you, with After next.

And now for, the last chapter of Ever.

**Bella Notte**

It had been two months since Marak and Nir had finally married their wives. All four were currently enjoying the full moon. It hadn't always been like that. The first one was spent together between Alice and Inanna, meeting each other for the first time. Eresha had joined them the first night as well, before declaring herself bored with their mindless chatter and leaving.

Alice and Inanna talked about what their lives with their husbands were like, and Alice had mentioned how she hated elf food. "I don't mind bread, deer, and stew but what I do mind is having them every day of the week," she complained.

Inanna had laughed at this and told her the story of Nir's mother and what she had done. Alice then tried the same thing, much to Nir's dismay. They soon reached a compromise. On Sundays Marak would send over a human meal for them to share, prepared by one of the goblin chefs, Lefou. Alice enjoyed this for two reasons. The first being it was delicious, the second being she enjoyed the faces Nir made when trying new foods. The most memorable was him trying to eat spaghetti, with trying to drop the long noodles in his mouth. Alice had to show him how to use a fork to wrap the noodles around.

Deciding that leaving the two together was not a good idea, Nir joined them for the second full moon and Marak of course had to join as well. Even Aggie decided to join the group. Ever since Edi had died, she stopped going out for the full moons, saying it wasn't the same. Now with more people, she gave it another chance.

The only one absent was Eresha. The first month had been the only and she had since been spending all of her time in the library, reading up on goblin history. Ever since the night she had arrived, she would go out of her way to avoid Inanna and the other goblins. This was fine with Inanna. For it meant she could spend more time with Marak, who she had started to love. She was also spending her time writing her chronicle and with other female goblins such as Kayta, whom she had quickly become good friends with.

As for Nir and Alice, they weren't quite to the love part but they were close. Once Alice had come back, Nir decided the boundary spell wasn't necessary. Instead he put another spell on her—this one allowing her eyes to see better in the dark, along with making her glasses unnecessary. Alice had been thrilled. She had been so afraid she would have to stop sketching since she couldn't see, and she no longer had to worry about breaking her glasses in the dark. He had also applied some other spells to help with her allergies. As Nir put it, it would be a shame for his new bride to be allergic to her own home. Especially when there were more important things to do, like dancing, which she had steadily been getting better at. She had even started to lose a little weight due to it all.

Her drawings had really taken off among the elves. Elves, not used to having pictures of themselves, enjoyed having them drawn, some returning more than once. Once Alice was done, they would race off with the picture in hand to show to friends and family. Nir had even requested some of the camp to add to his chronicles. He said it would be a good thing for future generations to see. Alice was currently working on one in secret for Inanna to give to Marak as a present. Goblins were the same as elves, not used to self-potraits, but Inanna had no doubt that Marak would dislike it. He loved everything she did.

Alice enjoyed drawing, but she also enjoyed the elves who worked with her on her Elvish as she sketched them. It also took her mind off other things—like being homesick. She would occasionally get hit with it out of the blue, and once Nir or the other elves noticed they did a good job distracting her, by inviting her to dance or playing games. She learned quickly that elves loved to play games and tease each other, not out of malice like humans, but because it was simply their nature. Alice had even grown brave enough to start teasing some of them back to their delight.

Looking at his wife under the full moon, Nir decided, Candace couldn't have made a better bride. She would never have adjusted as well as Alice had. No doubt she would be complaining about the outdoors or sleeping on the ground, he had gathered from what Alice had told him about her. "What are you thinking of?" he asked his wife.

"How what I told Candace was correct. I did get my ever after," she responded dreamily, gazing at the stars above. Nir just threw back his head and laughed.

**FIN**

****Author's Note****

And so Ever ends, and next Tuesday After begins.

Now for After's summary:

It's been four months since Alex's sister Alice, went missing without a trace. Determined to find answers and her sister, Alex takes a semester off school to return to Hallow Hill. Once there, she gets more than she bargained for.

The first chapter is Age of Not Believing. Bragging rights to the first reviewer who can tell what movie it's from, since it's one of Disney's lesser known movies.

I mentioned before of hiding things throughout Ever, and Alex is the biggest. I had Alex in mind before Alice, and now she gets her own story. You'll see Marak, Inanna, Alice, Nir and others, but After is mostly about Alex, along with some new characters. There's two new characters you get to see as well. Both were mentioned in Ever, but you'll see much more of them in After.

Enjoyed the ending? Excited for After? Let me know! This is the last chance to review Ever, and I want to see this chapter get the most reviews out of all the other chapters for Ever. So get to it and press the button!


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